Review by: The Muskox

This Coleburn was part of a closed distilleries tasting I did back in April… Like many of the whisky reviews I started writing before/during my long hiatus this year, it sat in a vaguely-finished state with a score and notes but no write-up. I’ve cleaned up the formatting and added the SMWS name from my notes and memories but haven’t touched my original scores.

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Distillery: Coleburn.

Bottler: Mackillop’s Choice.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 43%.

Age: 20 years. Distilled September 5th 1980. Bottled in June 2001.

Cask type: Cask #1859, a refill butt.

Price: N/A, sample.

Color: Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

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Nose: Deep and savoury. Loads of dark fruit – prunes and raisins, cassis, figs, dried cranberries. But oh lord, it’s funky. Savoury and metallic notes of motor oil, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, celery salt, inner tubes, tennis balls, ballpoint pen ink… blood?? Some sourness as well – underripe peach and sumac.

Palate: Medium texture. Arrives sweet, citrusy, and surprisingly fresh, mango, orange, and a tinge of salt. Develops to deep and earthy flavours of coffee, bitter cherries, bacon, dark-roasted walnuts, and sooty smoke. Rosemary and herbal liquors. More, uh, blood.

Finish: Medium-length. Inner tube. Ink, dark sherry, coffee liqueur, black cherries, grapefruit. Chocolate pudding. Burnt popcorn.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “You will pay for your crimes against Dracula”

Conclusion: The only conclusion I had in the original draft of this review were: “reminds me of Loch Dhu! But kinda good!”. Take that as you will. This was a funky, metallic, old-sherry fossil of a whisky. For me, it was way too far off the deep end, but many others at the tasting loved it.

Final Score: 75.

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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.