Originally released as a contra measure by the sponge for all the black friday whisky deals. apparantly Saturnalia is a past pagan festiavl , held in mid-December, honoring the agricultural god Saturn. Saturnalia celebrations are the source of many of the traditions we now associate with Christmas. The sponge put it nicely on the site:
Step ye merrily beneath ye mistletoe of Jesus and spendeth thy coinage upon ye sacred plastic trinkets of yonder black Fryday and other sacred money fumblings of the run up to Christmas and all her divinely anointed food waste…
This whisky was created by mixing together a 2001 refill sherry butt of mystery blended malt and a 2000 refill hogshead of Glenrothes. I am late again on my reviews (sorry I am lazy), and this is now sold out…
Saturnalia 20 Years , 47.2 % , sold out
Nose: The sweet sherry effect from the butt is quite noticeable, I am getting lots of dried fruit, in sweet syrupy liquid, plums, raisins, lovely sweet vanilla, cream Catalan, and Xmas cake alongside brown sugar and crack pies, there’s even something Rum like here. sweet, rich, and lovely, with a nice woody influence, that speaks of its age.
Palate: The palate is big, rounded oily, and woody, with lots of vanilla upfront, more of the Xmas cake notes, with quite some wood, that adds a spicy tang,wood shavings, more of the brown sugar, and a dried fruit salad: fig, date, sultana and even dark cherries, chocolate and a hint of candied orange alongside ginger, very easy drinking, and very likable.
Finish : Dark chocolate, fig spread, wood, and cocoa dusting, the dark dried fruit, and pepper go on for a long time.
Concluson: I have no idea what the sherry butt held but, the combo is lovely and if not over-complex, it’s got the right sweet/spice/wood combination going on. A very very worthy holiday whisky. Loving it. Keep this stuff coming.
Score: 89/100
Merry Xmas to all my readers who are celebrating.