Hi everyone,
I am always amazed at the incredible generosity of the whisky community.
From honest folks trading drams to people giving away whisky for nothing, there seems to be an attitude of sharing and altruism I’ve encountered in little else.
But when I entered the Library Pub in Omaha, Nebraska, not only did I not expect to see a £4000 bottle I’d never seen open before, but I definitely didn’t expect to taste the bloody thing. But talking with the owner, I said that I’d tried most of the other range and he offered me a small taste… for nothing. Nothing! Amazing.
Balvenie 40 48.5%
Colour: Gold
Body: Medium
Nose: Quite light and fresh, complex though, floral, apple, like the 30 but with a little more orange, oak and chocolate. Not quite as classy as the 1401 or 42yo Sherry cask but just as balanced.
Taste: Complex, lots of oak, chocolate and orange, layered and balanced, tonnes of chocolate, beeswax, a small touch of leather. It’s quite dry as expected but the balance is masterfully achieved.
Finish: Long length. Elegant and balanced, loads of complex chocolate, honeycomb, emosh.
The taste and finish on this are incredibly incredibly good despite the dryness of the oak, the nose is quite different being fresher and lighter. I battled between 89 or 90 on the score but I don’t think it’s quite as good as the crazy 1970 single cask I tried or the Tun 1401, despite having the emotional thing that normally denotes a 90 score. Undoubtedly, the taste and finish are there but I would have liked to see a little more of those more complex darker, antique notes to the nose. Anyway, a privilege.
89/100
Thanks for reading!
Scotch Review #758
Whisky Network Review #900
Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent
Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.
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