Irish Malt 1989 (Antique Lions of Spirits)

This is the Irish Malt 1989 from the recent Butterflies series, bottled by the Righi, Sandrin & Drewitz trio.

Irish Malt 28 yo 1989 (49,3%, Antique Lions of Spirits ‘Butterflies’ 2017, bourbon cask, 209 btl.)

Nose: warm fruit cake, alongside this tropical fruitiness (guave, maracuya, bananas, white grapefruit). A hint of green tea. Light vanilla. Subtle minerals in the background, a whiff of wet plaster.

Mouth: more fruity notes, sweet and tropical at first (mango, passion fruits) but evolving more towards grapefruit, kiwi and lime. Slightly more zesty now, grapefruit skin which mingles nicely with the mineral notes. Green oak with a slight grassy touch. Hints of bergamot.

Finish: rather long, still on this bright and zesty fruitiness, with grapefruit and lemon.

What did you expect? Excellent Irish malt, from an excellent batch of ALOS releases. Around € 330. By the way I’d love to find one of those official Bushmills single casks – they bottled a dozen of similar casks around 2005.

Score: 91/100