Many years ago, I had ordered a sample of a New Zealand whiskey that was aged for 25 years from a ghosted distillery that would have cost several hundred for a bottle, but thankfully the sample was available for a reasonable rate. My main memory from that experience was tutti-frutti bubble gum flavored rubber mulch, but thankfully @PBMichiganWolverine was kind enough to send me over a sample of an 18 year old to review. Let’s see if that memory is close or if that was just a bad bottle. The nose starts with a floral rubbery note almost as if someone decided to put perfume on their Jeep’s tires followed by tutti-frutti bubble gum, sour cherries, and sautéed apples that transitions to ginger, chestnuts and moderate oak spice with low ethanol burn. The taste is a thin mouthfeel that starts with that floral rubbery note but more like bitter rubber mulch with perfume that you’re chewing on followed by you spitting that perfume mulch out to replace it with chewing a tutti-frutti bubble gum with the wrapper still on, sour cherries, and grapefruit that transitions to ginger, chestnuts, acetone and moderate oak spice with low ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with rubber mulch, slight red berry flavor and burnt leaf ash. Well, this one was rough and my memory was very close to what this one tasted like. The nose was a warning of what was to come with sour fruit, rubber and light spices, but the taste is bitter with rubber, perfume, tutti-frutti gum and acetone notes that finishes medium length with light fruit in the background of rubber and ash. I’m very grateful that @PBMichiganWolverine shared with me a pour from this ghosted distillery and can see why they shuttered their doors after all.