Review by: zSolaris
Distillery: Undisclosed. Bottler noted that he has a hint on the label of the distillery. /u/herr_maltenberg suspects it might be Macallan, given that there is a symbol repeated 36 times, which would line up with Macallan’s 36 stills. The bottle shape on the logo though points to Glenrothes.
Region: Speyside.
Age: 8 Year. Distilled in 2013 and bottled in 2021.
Cask Type: Ex-Bourbon
Cask Number: 6254
Bottle Number: 27 / 285
ABV: 56.1%
Price: £43.
Color: 0.4, Jounquil/Ripe Corn.
Nose: It’s quite a citrus bomb. Lemons and oranges are present and very strongly so. There’s a slightly booze-y orange note that reminds me of Gran Marnier. A slightly oily note comes through as well of orange essential oils. Some flowers come in in the back, lilies come to mind.
Palate: It’s a super oily orange liqueur. It honestly tastes like a less-sweet Gran Marnier, which is fantastic. There’s a bit of vanilla icing, the kind hardened on top of a coffee cake, which does add a touch of sugar. With water, you get less orange and more lemon instead. The vanilla icing note intensifies a touch.
Finish: Medium in length. One of the wife’s colleagues regularly bakes for us this amazing lemon poppy cake and the finish reminds me heavily of it. It’s slightly dense, full of lemon, a hint of poppy, and all of that without being too sweet. With a touch of water, the lemon notes intensify into something more like limoncello.
Conclusion: When someone bottles a secret Speyside, sometimes it’s a wild guessing game of where the whisky has come from. Sometimes they make it easy by saying it’s a family run distillery (hello Glenfarclas) and sometimes they say nothing at all. While I’ve seen nothing that confirms /u/herr_maltenberg‘s guess that this might be secret Macallan, I’d wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if it was. The citrus notes that just flow out of this are very much in distillery character. It honestly tastes like a less sugary Gran Marnier, which is something I enjoy but often wish it was less sweet. All and all, it’s quite tasty and I’m very happy to have a bottle!
Final Score: 81
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 
