Strathmill 1991 21 Year Cask Strength (The Maltman)

Nose: Clean and refined with an elegant grassy/floral aroma when neat. Over time subtle fruity notes emerge - red apples, rockmelon, and honeysuckle flowers. Further resting develops more honey and a faint touch of leather. Adding water unleashes a hidden barrage of woody notes - sawdust, pencil shavings and oak barrels - together with cloves and stagnant flower-vase water. It also intensifies the leather. An interesting nose. Palate: The nose does not prepare you for the full-frontal assault of the palate. The arrival is balanced but unusual with sweet, astringent, fruity, dry and spicy notes are all competing for attention. In the development it becomes full and rounded, with slightly sour malt, 95% bitter chocolate, oak tannins and hot spiky spices (notably hot English mustard) coming forward. Adding water softens the palate considerably. Finish: Medium. Peppery, slightly sour and finishing dry and bitter (but in a pleasant way). Once watered the finish becomes refreshingly dry and astringent with a touch of ale-like bitterness. When smelled neat the nose on this whisky is mild and reticent, so much so that you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's lacking and weak. However it needs time in the glass and a rest of 20-30 minutes is well worth the wait. As it unfolds the nose gains depth and character and becomes attractively leathery-floral in profile. However it's adding water that really makes this sing, with everything that was previously locked up being released and allowed to bloom. There's an alcohol sting on the palate that makes the hard and spicy profile all the more intense. Water works miracles for this whisky and turns it into a much more interesting and accessible experience that becomes quite compelling as you acquire the taste. I'd strongly recommend a good splash of water and lots of resting time. This is an unusual and demanding malt from a seldom encountered distillery. Distilled in 1991 and matured in a first-fill ex-bourbon cask, it was bottled in 2012 at 50.5% after the angels took a hearty share. It's interesting and I commend it to curious whisky enthusiasts, but I would not recommend it to novices. "Above Average" : 82/100 (3 stars)