Two new expressions released end of last year (2011), and tasted a while ago, I had the honor of listening and taking part in a twitter tasting in Dutch which took place a few weeks ago online, and although my Dutch is quite basic I could manage and read some of the tasters notes, when they were not too complicated (with the help of Google translation, of course). I posted my notes (which are posted below) and even got mentioned on their blog. cool, if you are fluent in Dutch, I recommend reading that blog post too…
Benrinnes 1984 26 yo , 58.3% ABV
Nose: Beeswax, honey liquor , wet hay , raisins with a lemony edge.
Palate : Spicy, with malty sugars some raisins soaked in alcohol , spices and wood varnish.
Finish: Drying and getting bitter with traces of raisins hanging out there.
Bottom line:
This is a nice although a bit weird dram.
Score: 83/100
Miltonduff 1989 , 20 yo , 50% ABV ,
Nose: Sand, sweet nectar and sawdust, with an addition of Sherry , big vanilla and raisins dipped in fortified wine.
Palate: Sawdust , spice, malty sweet and sugary.Again fortified wine from the nose,and wood. A lovely interplay between salty and sweet. Interesting stuff.
Finish: Malt, bitter chocolate, wood.
Bottom line:
A lot of wood in this one. I really liked the interplay between the salty and sweet notes on the palate.
Score: 84/100
Many thanks to Erik for the official samples