Speyside 43 Years Old Eiling Lim 47.8% 1973

Professionele reviews

Serge Valentin (91)

I think the 1973s are less common than the 1975s. Colour: gold. Nose: some kind of walnut cake covered with grappa-flavoured icing sugar and full of honeydew and bits of orange zests. More ‘natural’ barley-y notes after that, wash, earth, perhaps even mashed turnips, all that being just perfect. Perhaps a drop of Japanese Bulldog sauce (new on Whiskyfun! ;-). I think it is an exceptional nose. Mouth: typical early 1970s Speysider, quite in the vein of all those 1972 Caperdonichs, or 1970 Glen Grants or Benriachs… Stewed orchard fruits covered with honey and many soft spices from the oak. Some propolis as well, again. I know some of you do not know what propolis is, well it’s something that the bees make out of wax and various resins that they gather from some trees. Highly antiseptic. Excuse me? Yeah, just like old whisky. Finish: medium, perfect. Waxy honey and softly spiced fruits. Some kind of Thai dish? A little green pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: high category, as expected. Hope we’ll see more of these in 2017 (and 2018, 2019, 2020…)

Whisky Notes (92)

Nose: full of beehive notes, beeswax, pollen, with some old and rather fragrant, minty oak, or sandalwood. Quite some blonde tobacco too. Orange peels, greengages, hints of dried apricot and herbal honey. Mentholated notes. Light exotic spices. Very light flinty / resinous notes in the background. Mouth: oak spices, again with this resinous feeling and bright tobacco notes. Fruit teas, pollen, a little mead. The wood brings freshness instead of a tannic dryness. Something of a fruity hoppy note too. Finish: long, flavourful, with white fruits and vibrant oak spices.
Great stuff. You have to like a good dose of old oak but it’s magically fresh and vibrant. I’ve heard the source of these casks could dry up any day now.