Description
A 37 year old Banff whisky. Bottled by Dead Whisky Society. Distilled on 4 March 1971, it was then aged in a cask number 633, before being bottled in 6 August 2008. A run of just 565 bottles, this is bottle 528.
Although the Banff distillery had dealt with fires and explosions in the past, a particularly bad fire damaged or destroyed much of the distillery apart from the warehouse on 9 May 1877. By October of the same year, the owner had rebuilt the distillery and restored operation. On 16 August 1941, a Nazi Junkers Ju 88 attacked the Banff distillery and destroyed warehouse No. 12. Many whisky casks burned and a great deal of stock was lost. Farmers reported that the whisky had run into nearby water supplies and intoxicated the local animal population. After World War II ended, renovation on the Banff distillery began with the intent of restoring it to operation. While one of the stills was being repaired by a coppersmith on 3 October 1959, vapors inside were ignited and caused an explosion that destroyed the still and damaged part of the distillery. When renovation was finally complete, the distillery returned to operating status and continued to produce whisky until it was finally mothballed in 1983. By the late 1980s, most of the distillery’s buildings had been dismantled or demolished. The last warehouse was destroyed in a fire on 11 April 1991.
Colour: Pale gold.
Nose: Hints of old tequila and rhum agricole and an unexpected smokiness. Then we have many notes, such as mushrooms, tobacco and eucalyptus/mint. More and more vanilla coming through after a moment. With water: the Banfiness (?) really comes out now. Spices, cough syrup and ‘farmyard after the rain’.
Taste: (neat): sweet, rich and sharp at the same time, with bags of vanilla, lemon cream and a little wasabi. Very oily mouth feel. Notes of orange blossom honey, capsicum, a little cumin, bitter oranges, ginger liqueur… With water: perfect, creamy, fruity, grassy and spicy. In other words, it’s got almost everything.
Finish: long, mentholated, peppery and honeyed. Nice lemony notes in the aftertaste.
