Striking Old Speysiders vintage 1973


August 1, 2017

Striking Old Speysiders vintage 1973

We don’t know much about these. Well, what we know is that they’re usually magnificent…

Speyside 43yo 1973/2016 (47.7%, Maltbarn, sherry, 149 bottles)

Yes, one that I should have tried last year. Mea Culpa, mea maxima Culpa. Colour: pale gold. Nose: hell, damnation and putrefaction. Honey, pollen, overripe plums, beeswax, cut flowers, figs, chamomile, bergamots... Mouth: I repeat, honey, pollen, overripe plums, beeswax, cut flowers, figs, chamomile, bergamots… and blood oranges, loads of blood oranges. Finish: medium-long, even more on blood oranges. Comments: was that short enough? Brilliant whisky, never found this many blood oranges in any malt. It was worth the wait. Warning, these ‘73s can kill. SGP:651 - 92 points.

Speyside 43 yo 1973/2017 (46.5%, Archives, butt, cask #9, 120 bottles)

I have to say it is a bit boring to know that the whisky will be superb beforehand. Kills the suspense, doesn’t it. Shall I tell you more about Australian starfish? Perhaps better not… Colour: pale gold. Nose: this cask imparted more mentholy notes, but other than that, tangerines and oranges are ruling the show, while there’s also just anything from a beehive, from wax to honey through propolis (those mentholy notes) and pollen. Mouth: gasp, what a star! Everything is perfect here, oranges, waxes, soft spices, floral notes, herbal teas, rosehip… Finish: medium, with our friends the blood oranges playing first fiddles. Comments: these are the best whiskies you can find these days. Yes I wrote that. Other than that, age doesn’t matter. SGP:651 - 93 points.

Speyside 43 yo 1973/2017 (46.8%, Archives, butt, cask #8, 107 bottles)

So, this one’s obviously older than the other one, since this is cask #8 while the other one was #9. Oh, did you know that all echinoderms have five-point radial symmetry, which means that their body plan has five sections (or multiples thereof) arranged around a central disk? It’s also to be known that there are about 2,000 species of echinoderms, which means that the very good people at Archives could go on like this for decades and decades. Colour: pale gold. Nose: this one is a little shier, so rather more on grapefruits than on blood oranges. It’s a little grassier too, mineral… I wouldn’t say there’s a wow effect this time, but we’re still flying high. Peaches. Mouth: more power, mezcal notes, grapefruits, mint, then pink grapefruits and blue lemons. I’m joking, that would be regular lemons. Finish: medium, first grassy and lemony, then a little gritty. Green oak. Comments: it’s the nose that was a wee tad disappointing – speaking relatively. The palate was perfect, despite the oaky spike in the aftertaste. SGP:561 - 90 points.

That was a happy, short, clean, session. See you tomorrow.

Check the index of all undisclosed malts I've tasted so far

Pete McPeat and Jack Washback