Royal Lochnagar Aged 16 Years Special Release 2021

Style: Grassy and Fruity

Rating: ☆- [Recommended]

Nose:

Green summer fruits with musk sticks, rock melons, cucumber and eschalots undertone, interesting aroma. Looking deeper there is a dark herbal bitterness, eau-de-vie, eschew, all encasing a very shy ester-y peach at the core. The sweetness begins to unfold over time – Valencia orange, kumquat, bright apples, lemon and banana gummies, all skimming along the green edge. Another grassy echo at the back.

Palate:

The musky sweetness continues, and it is slightly more expressive on the palate, albeit being surrounded and counterbalanced by abundant mineral notes, mostly in the form of graphite. Ink, wood incense and coconut shreds threading through the dominant herbal theme, beyond that there are vibrant lemons, apples, apricots, and oranges shining beautifully in the middle. Nutmeg, sea salt, turmeric, and lime zest building upon it. Raw almonds. Red chilli glowing towards the end to give it some structure and texture.

Finish:

The bitter undertone remains. More coconut shreds, red fruits (pointing towards some sherry cask involvement) getting increasingly loud, with just a touch of tropical sweetness.

Thoughts:

In my book, Royal Lochnagar has never been an “easy-to-get” whisky, it might be quite herbal-orientated and the dryness/mineralic side can be easily an overwhelming experience for some. But when you are able to see it through, there are more nuances beyond that, the nutty facet, as well as the fresh and bright fruitiness, though less pronounced, are delicately layered and embedded into the spirit. Together with multiple moderate cask influences at play, it creates a decent structure and complexity to the expression. Another technical dram, but it is worth the effort.

[57.5% | Original Bottling | 2021 Bottled | Natural Cask Strength | Matured in Refill Casks | Vatting | *-]

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