We already tried a few bottlings from Whiskyfacile, the Italian bloggers / bottlers, back in 2022. Now they’re back with more releases from the past couple of years. I’ve picked out three bottles that caught my attention. We start with one of the rare Aldunie bottlings (teaspooned Kininvie).
Aldunie 25 yo 1997 (54,5%, WhiskyFacile 2023, ex-bourbon barrel #2034, 171 btl.)
Nose: quite elegant, with yellow fruits like nectarines and apricots, pears and mirabelles. Later also brighter citrus. Vanilla biscuits and custard in the background, along with plenty of honey. Also a fresh minty top note.
Mouth: totally in line, although the peppery oak seems to block some of the fruity notes. Cinnamon and ginger. Then sweeter honey, hints of melons and maybe mango. Some green notes and herbal bitterness comes out in the end, but overall a very seductive profile. With a few drops of water the fruitiness gets more space to shine.
Finish: long, spicy, with apple peelings and ginger.
A good mix of fruits and oak spice – perfectly faultless. Too bad it seems younger than it actually is, which also means the price is fairly high for the complexity it offers. Still available from Whiskyfacile.
Craigellachie 14 yo 2009 (53,4%, WhiskyFacile 2023, hogshead #90305000, 300 btl.)
Nose: fairly distillate-driven, which means it’s robust and slightly meaty. Hints of grist, touches of ink and chalk. Then an earthy and mineral side, bringing it close to Campbeltown in a way. Sunflower oil, graphite, as well as some apples, peaches and plums underneath.
Mouth: nice complexity. There’s this earthy maltiness again, with gristy notes, wet plaster, hints of tobacco. Also sweet fruits though, like melons and (roasted) peaches. Hints of cinnamon and acacia honey, with leafy notes in the background. Fruits move towards dried fruits in the end, raisins and almonds, maybe turrón de chocolate too.
Finish: quite long, on dried herbs, roasted malt and more of these earthy hints.
This Craigellachie falls between stools, in a good way. It has an above-average weight and adds a lot of “grown-up” notes. I’m sure you could trick whisky lovers into thinking this was distilled at Springbank. Still available from Whiskyfacile. Score: 88/100
Last but not least, their Ben Nevis 1997. Based on the colour I assumed this would be a sherry cask (which doesn’t always work well with this distillery) but Whiskyfacile says it is a bourbon hogshead.
Ben Nevis 25 yo 1997 ‘Ulysses’ (53,8%, WhiskyFacile 2021, bourbon hogshead #29, 122 btl.)
Nose: hints of bread but also chocolate, with some leafy notes and nice teak oil and cigar boxes. A faint hint of boat varnish as well, which I like. Then sweet cinnamon, along with plummy notes, sweet tea and sour red berries in the background. A few drops of Heering too. Quite fresh and simply very beautiful so far.
Mouth: bright, woody and sour. Still a good dose of cedar wood, red berries, maybe cranberries and hints of tart citrus (pink grapefruit). Then raisins, moist tobacco, chocolate coated plums and peaches. Towards the finish it shows a slightly woody astringency with a fragrant edge (almost potpourri).
Finish: long, with the same sour fruits, as well as tobacco and some wood tannins.
It’s hard to believe this wasn’t a sherry hogshead, especially on the nose. It gets even more funny / interesting on the palate. A peculiar cask influence, on the edge of becoming too much. It’s slightly hard to recognize Ben Nevis here (hardly any tropical fruits or chalky notes for instance) but certainly a great pick. Sold out, I believe. Score: 90/100