Royal Lochnagar Selected reserve +/- 1990 43% OB

[lincoln imp]

Nose
91
There is a slight burnt note at first like charred wood which hints at some complexity and then dark plain chocolate and faint blood orange, orange peel.
There is a little mulled wine spice and very rich fruit cake/Christmas cake which is a note i have always associated with the early bottles of Selected Reserve.
Rich currants, faint blueberry and a few wisps of liquorice.
A good nose for sure and one that i could nose for a long time because it is different to the usual older heavily sherried whiskies. Not in the super league of noses, yes there are plenty better out there, this gets an initial 88 but an extra 3 points for the different things that are going on, a really interesting experience that I would advise others to try if they can, this is a complex, multi layered nose but you need to let it breath in the glass for at least 15 minutes to get the best out of it.

Taste
90
This is uber rich, plenty of sherry but it is the spices on show that you notice more than anything.
There is a smattering of orange liqueur but just not quite as sweet as that, there are hints of bubblegum, faint slightly bitter, dark chocolate, but also some milk chocolate.
There are mixed dark fruits, very juicy black currant, blueberry, damson jam, but the fruit is not massively sweet or prominent, just a stewed mix of dark fruit.
As you go on it gains complexity and , thankfully it gains a little sweetness, which because of the other flavours it really does need to get the balance just right.

Finish
89
The spice is getting sweeter, more pepper now than mulled wine spice but then some oak appears hinting at the older casks that are definitely in the vatting and checks the sweeter notes.
The balance is good all the way to the lingering finish and right at the end a little metallic note comes in.

With water:-
On the nose water has released ginger and more chocolate, but milk chocolate as opposed to slightly bitter dark chocolate.
The palate continues through at the expense of a little sweetness but it is getting really juicy now.
This is only 43% and even adding just a few small drops of water stunts the finish, so my advice is do not add water.

This was the first of 6 Lochnagar samples H2H and 2 more Selected Reserve samples after this one but the 2012 & 2018 did not get close to this one.
This bottle has been opened 2 weeks and is improving with air, if this was a little sweeter and at say 46-48% it would be at least 93 points.
I had an early bottle of this before and really liked it, and this one is in the same ball park. This whisky has complexity and is one of the most interesting whiskies I have tasted but it lacks a little sweetness and an an extra layer of depth to get it into the 93 points area. It is no secret and pretty obvious that there are older casks in this vatting, some say around the 30 years mark, certainly approaching 25 years old.
This bottle adds weight to the argument that you need a full bottle to really appreciate a whisky rather than just a sample, I get that argument no problem, this bottle is a perfect example to illustrate that point.
Some may not get the complexity on show here, some may also say the profile is not that complex, if you only have a sample, you may be right but if you have a full bottle, well just sit down and enjoy it
This bottle is from 1988-1990, somewhere in that period, the very first ones were all 75cl and the size was on the LHS of the label, 1990's bottle the size was on the RHS.
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Pour me a glass please.

[Quaich1]

Nice review. This is not a Highland whisky I have seen very often and vaguely remember having a wee sample dram probably from an independent bottler in the past. I think it was the same day I had an Ardnamurchan and a Tamnavulin 45 year old dram..
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"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[lincoln imp]