Inchgower 1980 (Whisky Agency)

Sometimes a whisky can really make you question yourself… am I missing something here? Sometimes it just isn’t made for you.

Inchgower 1980 (52%, The Whisky Agency ‘Sea Life’ 2012, refill sherry butt, 456 btl.)

Nose: quite a vegetal nose. Oxtail stock, rancid butter, stale water, organics… rubber, even a sulphury veil. Improves with airing, and opens up towards nutty notes and prunes. Then also fresher notes, some gooseberries and figs. In the end it totally fails to win me over , it stays on the beefy side and doesn’t reach a nice balance.

Mouth: thicker, more sherried. Lots of dark, medium bitter chocolate. A dash of herbal liqueur and a certain oaky sourness. Molasses. Light salt as well. Some sulphur. Not as pleasant as the bourbon version from the 1980’s.

Finish: medium length, slightly burnt, or so it seems. Again a bit salty.

When was the last time a TWA release had me wondering what to think of it, pour it back into the sample bottle to retry the next day, only to make me scratch my head even more? In fact, was there a last time for that? I spent more time with this one than other releases, but I still don’t get it. Around € 150.

Score: 72/100