Blended Malt 20 Years (Darkness!)

This blended malt was given a finishing period in a specially-coopered 50-litre Moscatel sherry cask.

Moscatel wines can range from a light style (Valencia) over sweet and golden styles (Portugal) to very dark in the sherry region, where it is an oxidized style that comes close to Pedro Ximénez in terms of colour and aromas. There’s always a floral element though, typical for Muscat grapes.

It was bottled not so long ago in the Darkness series.

Blended Malt 20 yo (46,3%, Darkness 2018, Moscatel cask finish, 100 btl.)

Nose: sweet and oaky, quickly followed by cocoa notes and cinnamon pastry. There’s also a striking sour side, close to damp tobacco and sour berries / Morello cherries. Marmalade. A gentle hint of mint. Vanilla. Lots of character, even though it’s not a typical Moscatel influence.

Mouth: same sweet and sour impression, with raisins and figs but also lime juice, fresh plums and Seville oranges. Hints of leather. Nutmeg, ginger. Gets quite earthy towards the end, with menthol and walnuts.

Finish: medium long, warm spices from the oak with leather and echoes of fruits.

A very interesting dram, I think it’s more influenced by the wood than by the wine. As long as the end result is nice… Available from Master of Malt.

Score: 87/100