A trio of Inchmurrin

December 29, 2013

A trio of Inchmurrin

As you probably know, Inchmurrin is one of the malt whiskies that are distilled at Loch Lomond Distillery. It's said to be the lightest of them all, so rather a 'Lowland-style' malt while Croftengea, for example, would be the 'Islay-style' one. Let's see...

Inchmurrin 15 yo (46%, OB, +/-2013)

While the official Loch Lomonds (and Rhosdus) used to be very cheap, these new Inchmurrins are rather heavily priced. Ha, premiumisation... Colour: pale white wine. Nose: warm porridge, and plenty of that. Add a little cardboard, bread and quite some cut hay, and you have it. This is extremely barleyish. Touches of peaches and melons coming through after a good ten minutes. Mouth: sweetened porridge and overripe apples, touches of grass, a lot of sweet bread (our beloved pumpernickel) and drops of sweet mustard. Maybe a little mead? Finish: good length, always on a lot of sweet grains/bread. A little plasticine and fudge in the aftertaste. Comments: I already liked the new 21yo (WF 80) and find this 15 quite good too. But you have to like bread dough... SGP:341 - 78 points.

Inchmurrin 19 yo 1993/2012 (58.1%, Signatory Vintage, casks #2844-45, 511 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: it's a grassier one, but the porridge, the leaven and the whole grains abound. Litres of beer as well, broken branches, grass... It's all quite austere. A little chalk as well, fern... With water: sawdust, porridge and more leaven. Maybe chives? Mouth (neat): creamy and rather citrusy, which is quite great, but I also find some plastic, burnt rubber and burnt bread. It's quite weird in my opinion, especially since there's also a growing feeling of... wasabi? With water: water really works and we now have a pleasant combination of apples, caramel fudge and vanilla, without any plastic anymore. A marginally sweeter version of the official 15. Finish: long, pretty clean, on Werther's Originals. Or fudge. More tannicity in the aftertaste. Comments: an interesting dram for sure. Good for toying with water. SGP:441 - 79 points.

Inchmurrin 16 yo 1996/2013 (62.8%, Master of Malt, sherry butt, 428 bottles)

Colour: deep gold. Nose: this one's unexpectedly smoky, that may come from the cask. There's also a lot of ale, Guinness, earth, tobacco... Of course it's very strong so pretty hard to nose when undiluted, but the combo seems to work. With water: where do these lovely whiffs of blood oranges come from? And the floral side? Hawthorn? Honeysuckle? Moss? I have to say it is a surprise. Mouth (neat): very fine! Surprising again - and bl***y hot - but I really enjoy these huge notes of gingerbread. But quick, water please... With water: some kind of spicy honey, gingerbread again, sweet mustard, apricot liqueur... Unusual but excellent. Must have been a great cask. Finish: long, creamy, sweet, more on marmalade. A funny mustardy aftertaste. And maybe a little rye? Ginger? Comments: I think the wood did wonders, it cannot be the distillate, can it? SGP:551 - 86 points.

Check the index of all Inchmurrin I've tasted so far