August 3, 2015

Four Imperial from 1997 to 1962

Imperial is – sorry, was – one of those distilleries not many people were caring for, until it got mothballed, and then demolished. The problem may be that just like with, say Benriach, the bottles you could buy twelve or twenty years ago were just so-so, and never managed to awake anybody’s senses or attention. I’m sure the blenders were to blame for that, they were probably using all the best casks! But let’s do a short, but deep little verticale of Imperial…

Imperial 19 yo 1995/2014 (46%, The Ultimate, hogshead, cask #50159, 312 bottles)

Sourced from Signatory Vintage’s, I guess. These batches have always been quite lovable if I remember well. Colour: straw. Nose: a wee bit on the oaky side at first nosing, perhaps, with this feeling of banana skin, but the fresh maltiness and the grassy, humussy side start to make very, yes, lovable after just two minutes. Cider apples, waxed papers, greengages, a touch of chalk… Once again, Imperial wasn’t a ‘light’ Speysider. Mouth: excellent, really. A mentholy oak, apples, some liquorice, roots, a little pinesap perhaps, then a lot of grapefruits and limes… It’s tense and potent, and the strength is perfect. Finish: long, a little salty, vegetal, waxy… The aftertaste is greatly sour and bitter (cider apples and, well, plain artisan cider. Without sugar!) Comments: well as I remembered these batches. One of the most characterful Speysiders. SGP:452 - 87 points.

Imperial 13 yo 1997/2010 (52.4%, Reifferscheid, Romantic Rhine Collection, sherry octave, 71 bottles)

Form one of these micro-bottlings, probably ex-Ducan Taylor. Colour: gold. Nose: the oak feels a bit. Carpenter’s workshop, cherry wood, lit cigarette… On the other hand, a nutty sherry is soon to come through and to make it much more enjoyable. Cigars, new upholstery, walnut cake (a bit burnt, I should add)… With water: swims like a champ, which doesn’t always happen with oaked whiskies. Tobacco and ‘good’ mud, pu-erh tea, humus… Mouth (neat): rich, orangey, candied and spicy. It’s some very spicy Christmas cake, rather German-style indeed. Or Alsatian… With water: a wee feeling of Haribo’s best for a while, then plenty of blood oranges and Seville ones. The oak does not get in the way. An Andalusian miracle! Finish: long, spicier. Caraway, cloves, ‘anis Bredele’… Christmas indeed. Comments: I know, we’re either very late or very early. SGP:561 - 85 points.

Imperial-Glenlivet 18 yo 1979/1997 (61.2%, Cadenhead, Bond Reserve)

Maybe one of those powerful monsters that Cadenhead were issuing at the time. Colour: straw. Nose: yeah, it’s one of those powerful monsters that Cadenhead were issuing at the time. No sweetness, no roundness, only flints, rocks, apple peelings, sour wood, plasticine, and sulphur. Plain sulphur, not burnt sulphur, that’s very different. With water: vegetables. Beans, perhaps, asparagus, artichokes, Greek yoghurt… How very ‘mid-1990s Cadenhead’s’! Mouth (neat): quite superb! The nose was almost unbreakable, but this is pure lemon juice. Yuzu sauce, concentrated cinchona, unripe lime… Takes your tongue hostage, in a way, but that’s most pleasant – no you don’t need to be a masochist to enjoy this palate-batterer of a whisky. With water: truly superb, in its very own, very austere style. Petroly riesling. Finish: long, kind of fat, and yet fully mineral. Comments: seriously, the nose didn’t have much to show us, but boy was the palate talkative! Austere, but talkative… SGP:362 - 85 points.

Let’s have a last Imperial, and go further back in time. I’m very curious about this one…

Imperial 1963/1983 (92 US proof, Duthie for Corti for Narsai’s and Corti, Pellegrini Imports, 75cl)

One of those famous Californian Cortis and Averys. Fun mention of the owners of the distillery on the label: Dailuaine-Talisker Distilleries Limited. Rings a bell… Colour: gold. Nose: oh, some aspects are close to those of the Bond Reserve, especially the sharp and very expressive notes of waxy vegetables. That would be some kind of bean stew made with olive oil and drops of lemon oil. There’s something metallic as well (our beloved old copper coins), and then a very complex combination of herbs and marrows, some kind of bouillon perhaps, parsley, cultured cream, olives, bone marrow quenelles… All those sorts of things. And quite some soot. How complex! It’s not whisky, it’s borscht. Mouth: totally exceptional. Not whisky that I should have tried in easy summer times, apologies. Where to start… Perhaps with precious leathers, all those herbs that we found in the nose, black tobacco, our beloved pu-erh tea, certainly some Spanish jabugo, some salt for sure – sorry, a saltiness -, salmiak, liquid tar, then the citrusy cavalry (won’t quote them all), old chartreuses, Izarras and Bénédictines (posh contemporary mixologists know them), perhaps drops of Noilly and Fernet-Branca… And walnut wine, old amontillado, vin jaune… All that, all that. We could go on and on. Finish: sadly, yes. Walnuts, herbs, vegetables, waxes, oils, citrus, smoke… And all that. Comments: why the fate of Imperial Distillery has been so obscure and, lately, pretty final remains a mystery to me. Maybe we should ask the excellent people at Pernod’s again. SGP:463 - 95 points.

(and thank you Diego – you were damn right - and Max and Tom!)