Tasting three old Banff

November 4, 2013

Tasting three old Banff

I hadn't expected there would be some 'new' Banff in 2013, but the wizards at W.M. Cadenhead had some casks left and gifted us with a new black 1976 this summer. Hurray! But first, let's try two earlier compadres from WF's archives...

Banff 27 yo 1975/2002 (43%, Part Nan Angelen for Vin&Spirit, 863 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: ah, the old school... Where else would you find this kind of combination of metal polish and ink with fresh fruits both western and tropical? Ripe mangos and apples plus a fistful of old coins wrapped in today's Wall Street Journal (whatever). Add a little mustard and there, you have it. It's a very unusual nose, which may lead to an even stranger palate, let's see... Mouth: starts a little wobbly, rather drying right from the arrival, with an obvious tannicity. A lot of pepper and bitter chocolate, these metallic tastes are back as well, there's also a dustiness, touches of cardboard and very little fruitiness this time. Where did they go? Finish: of medium length, this time with touches of oranges and maybe passion fruits, but it remains drying and kind of tannic. Cocoa and pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: not an easy one for sure. A little challenging, I would say, but the nose was pretty wonderful. Nobody makes old style malt whisky like this anymore, not even in Campbeltown. SGP:362 - 85 points.

Banff 32 yo 1975/2008 (44.2%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask, cask ref #4174, Rhône Valley Red Wine Finish, 117 bottles)

An old Banff mixed with syrah, how unlikely is that? Sounds even weirder than the London Philharmonic playing Jimi Hendrix if you ask me. Colour: gold. Nose: hurray again, I do not detect any red wine! It's rather a very Banffy Banff, similar to the Part Nan Angelen, with readymade OBE inside. So again, ink, metal polish, old coins, grandma's old silverware, and only touches of tropical fruits this time. It's actually drier and more 'metallic' than the Swede but it's a beautiful nose if you're into... heavy metal ;-). Mouth: ah well, this time it's this one that's fruitier, but some kind of cardboardy dustiness remains there. Some peppery oak too, this feeling of ink again, oranges and grapefruits, a little salt, 'sucking a copper coin', more pepper... Finish: long and very dry and peppery. It's like eating peppered mustard. No red wine and I doubt it's syrah's notorious spiciness that expresses itself here. Comments: another challenging one. It's great because it's a style that's extinct, but on the other hand, it's difficult whisky. I like the fruitier Banffs much better. SGP:362 - 84 points.

Banff 36 yo 1976/2013 (49.8%, Cadenhead, small batch, bourbon hogshead, 192 bottles)

Ultra-dry and metallic or relatively fruity? Let's see... Colour: gold. Nose: well, it's rather dry, but rather dry like an old grassy Demerara rum can be dry. There are actually touches of old rum, I also find a little olive oil, ink again, old toolbox, old garage. It's only after a good five minutes that more fruits come through, together with a little menthol. Raspberries and wasabi, how does that sound? Mouth: fruits! This time it's not a dry and drying old Banff, or say the dryness is balanced by citrus fruits. Phew! So lemons and tabasco, bitter chocolate with tangerines and peppered blood oranges. I wouldn't say it's an easy whisky, but the fruits really lift it and make it much more 'playable' than its bros. In the background, the usual pepper and mustard as counterpoints. Finish: quite long, lemony and peppery. Also a metallic fruitiness - that would be mangos, I guess. Comments: in my experience, Banff needs quite some fruits or it can be too Jansenist. This one has them. SGP:562 - 90 points.

(with thanks to Konstantin)

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

	October 2013
	Favourite recent bottling: Teaninich 29 yo 1983/2013 (57.5%, Signatory Vintage, refill butt, cask #8071, 471 bottles) - WF 93 Favourite older bottling: Glen Garioch Highland 15 yo 1972 (60%, Slim Cowell’s Personal Selection II, +/-1987) - WF 95 Favourite bang for your buck bottling: Bowmore 10 yo 'The Devil's Cask' (56.9%, OB, first fill sherry, 2013) - WF 88