Glenugie 1967/1989 sherry wood 59.5% Sestante Bird Label

[lincoln imp]

Neat:-

Nose
The first thing that hits use is the fruit (I like to use a glass lid to keep the aromas in).
There are various tropical fruits and in particular mango & papaya but there is also kiwi fruit, a little green apple, faint dark honey.
With the lid off and air things begin to change, the fruit seems to decrease to reveal mixed with the fruit some new leather notes, brick dust (if you have ever sawed a brick in half with a stihl saw you will know what I mean here).
After a few more minutes the green apple returns and then it is a bag of fruit gums.

Taste
Very spicy, very fruity and it almost is splitting my tongue in two, there is peat there but that fruity sherbet fizz is really powerful as your mouth get used to it.
My initial thought is that neat is quite dry and ever so slightly woody and bitter, I think water will really open this up?
Waves of spice wash over tongue but it is too much of a good thing, the amount of fizz and spice hide the fruit, don`t get me wrong here I like , very entertaining but it swamps everything else at first but if you keep going the fruit gum notes and some orange notably come out, it is a marmalade note I am getting.
Things are not in harmony here, I am hoping a little water tames this.
The flavours are great mind

Finish
Massive, it is very long and very spicy , nothing more to say.

With Water:-

Nose
Even more fruit has been released and more leather, everything seems just a little more composed, new to the scene is a caramel waffle note which is a welcome addition from a balance perspective.

Palate
Sill very fizzy and very powerful but again the balance is not there for me, the power this has is awesome though, I can admire it just for that alone.
again it starts to get dry with a faint bitterness but at the moment that is not a negative.

Finish
After a little more time in the glass the explosion of fruit flavours is immense.
Palate

Since I have started drinking whisky there are few that leave me undecided, this is one of them, yes it is good and in parts superb , especially the finish but because the palate never really settles it loses a few marks,
Such a powerful fruity malt but the power does not come from the faint peat in the mix and there is the difference.
This is a hand grenade of fruit and fizz and it swamps you, a bunker buster of fruit.
What a rollercoaster of a journey, not what I was expecting after the other two 67,68 Sestante Glenugie I have tried.
_________________
Pour me a glass please.

[DaveWn]

Its quite some time since I have tasted any Glenugie but what I recall from what I tried is that it was fruity and spicy dram

[lincoln imp]

[DaveWn]

Yes it is too rich for my pocket for dramming these days.