Today we start with a new episode of a blogseries that started in december. It’s not the first WhiskyOss blog of the year but it’s close. It is however our first review of 2017. Today we review a 25yo Mannochmore, one of Diageo’s Special Releases 2016.
The Mannochmore distillery is situated in the Speyside region. It was built in 1971 in Birnie, south of Elgin and very near to the Glenlossie distillery. It has a lot in common with the Glenlossie distillery and for quite some time even the employees were shared between both distilleries. You don’t get to see a lot of single malt editions of Mannochmore whisky. Checking Whiskybase I can only find 7 official bottlings. There’s also not very much spirit bottled by independent bottlers. Most of the produced spirit is used for the range of Diageo blends. It’s no surprise that Peter and I haven’t stumbled upon a Mannochmore whisky before.
It’s the second time a Mannochmore made it to the Special Releases series. In 2009 an 18yo CS version was released and now it’s time for this 25yo. Nice detail, both releases were distilled in 1990. Maybe it was a special year for the distillery? This specific whisky is a mix of four types of casks. First fill American oak ex-bourbon barrels, virgin American and Europen oak casks as well as ex-bodega European oak butts were used. I’m curious how these different casks have influenced the spirit. A limited number of 3954 bottles were filled with an ABV of 53,4%.
Notes by Peter
- Nose: Sherry, sweet fruit and candy, blackberries and some honey. Lovely!
- Taste: Full! Oak, sweet fruit with a fresh hint of citrus, again some berries and in the end a bit of herbs, nuts and smoke.
- Finish: Medium long but intense. Sweetness with a spicy edge.
This is a wonderfull balanced Whisky, not too much of the Sherry just enough to make it very special. Love it!!
Notes by Jeroen
- Nose: Rich nose. Fruity with apple, oranges and cherries. Some caramel and more sherrynotes like raisins. A hint of roasted almonds as well.
- Taste: A bit of a spicy arrival but not too spicy. Caramel sweetness, some citrus (orange and tangerine). Again the roasted almonds that bring a lovely hint of smoke.
- Finish: Not very long but it’s tasteful with sweet and smoky fruitnotes.
I’m glad the European oak is very much present in this whisky. This could easily be presented as a sherry cask matured whisky without being a true “sherrybomb”. The finish should have been longer to make it an even better whisky.
Thanks Diageo Netherlands for this very nice sample.
