11/13/2020 - DoubleT Likes this wine:

Celebrating yet another Wall Street rally and starting to realize the Dom 08 IS too young it had to be same vintage Cristal for a fair compare.

Served at maybe eight degrees Celsius. Very yeasty on opening . Bread dough fills the table. Relatively quickly evolves info acid fruits on the nose. Needs some air. Giving it some minutes to get to know the glass. Fine but quick mousse. Evolves into baked bread, sweeter fruits but still not very awake. May need more years to impress at opening. Nothing negative.

Taste is closed in the beginning. Clearly a story wants to be told, but still just mumbles. Giving it a degree to breathe. Yeast is gone, strawberries arrive. Not the perfect ones from southern Norway, more the dutch industrial ones. Acid. But good. Notes of apple, citrus. Clearly quality apples in the finish. Balance evolving into perfection as time lapses and even one more degree is added. Accepts rising temperature with dignity and gracefulness. I do not taste very complex fruits at this time, weight on apple and strawberry. Potential to evolve.

Bubbles are present, but so fine it is almost so you wonder from where. Very easy mousse in the mouth. Reaches its peak after half an hour. Peak is long.

Absolutely no rush yet. Clearly a collection keeper.

12/5/2014 - DoubleT wrote:

What to expect from 48 years of cellaring? Good question. Fizz was gone from this one, quite common for this kind of age really. Still well sealed bottle with crisp nose.

At first pour, time covers the potential. Needs air desperatly. The closed hints of dark cellar quickly fades and out comes old wooden furniture, evolving into caramelized nuts. Intense traces of dried fruits, not sure exactly what kinds of fruits. Nose becomes more discrete over time.

The taste is clearly old school champagne. Dark fruit with balanced sweetness. Fright of some oxidized notes due to lack of bubbles dissapears. Bottle has done well during almost five decades. Impressive. One can question wether a young high end bottle would really be a nicer treat with the fizz and freshness. And I am tempted to say yes, butthen there is nothing like the nowadays quite rare old school richness and complexity. Shortbread, sweet cookies, hints of burned almonds evolving.

Not very long finish, but what would you expect? For the vintage and age, this is quite as expected.

90p. If my next bottle of this (oh yeah!) still have some fizz, this is an easy 95.

1/24/2014 - DoubleT wrote:

Enjoyed in an official Glencairn whisky glass.

Bottle popping is classic Lagavulin, nothing telling you only 12 years behind it.

Nose is fresh but smooth, clearly cask strenght - but no alcohol breaking through in bad manners. Good balance, easy to recognize as Lagavulin. And yes - Lagavulin is peated. All over you, just as you would expect it to. But this one is not of the most significant ones. Mild and round.

Taste hits you at once, but evolves quickly into warmth and bonfire just as it should. Hints of alcohol reveals the CS, but very well concealed for only 12 yo. Let it walk the mouth closed and it is nice to you. Let it breathe on the tounge and it can give you a little slap on the cheek. The CS rides the sides of your tounge for 15-20 seconds bringing up all the stories this one has. Quite impressive for its age.

Finish is not of the longest ones evolving into sugar, mild caramel and a bit oak. Perhaps a bit water dilluted feeling just at the end.

1/16/2014 - DoubleT Likes this wine:

(This is a re-taste, last sip in the bottle - may very well have smoothend and evolved since bottle popping due to the over one year breathing.)

Nose is smooth, Macallanish, only vague alcohol. Clearly oak, but refined and balanced. Creme brulee burnt sugar topping, hints of sweet caramel breaking through.

Taste is clear perfected oak, frisky at first - then evolving into smooth but dry sweetness. Alcohol threatens to come to surface, but quickly is overwhealmed by the refined wooden experience before it bites you. Quite clear taste, not very complex - this one does not have a long story to tell, but at least a little limerick. Sweet in the opening, more dry when evolving. Not bitter. No clear significant tastes beyond the very smooth characteristics of refined oak. Going from 89 to 90 for the perfected oak - this is also what you expect from this one.

Finish is not very long. Pleasant and distinct, but a swift goodbye. Dry, almots bitter (but not) after swallow, then quickly turning into quite neutral oak finish without any very particular essences.

10/13/2013 - DoubleT Likes this wine:

Fresh floral and crisp fruity nose.

Taste is refreshing fruity, sweet but very well balanced not to be heavy. Easy to drink, complex enough for wanting the next sip.

Enjoyed to a pizza with great success. But when tried along with some sweets for dessert, a secret reveals. Excellent with sweet nuts and chocolate, like Ferrero Rocher.

10/19/2012 - DoubleT wrote:

A not very complex easy-to-drink wine. Not perfection in acidity balance, but round and nice. Hints of bitterness at once, after decanting for a hour more depth and less bitter. Four years of aging haven't really done much, and more age is probably not helping either. Delicate nose, but shallow. Short finish without any great surprises.

10/18/2012 - DoubleT Likes this wine:

Bottle popping reveales the "Auld". No typical alcohol fume, only sweet and well balanced age with hints of caramel and vague wood.

Enjoyed in official Glencairn Whisky Glass.

Nose is again very old. Rich but not intense wood, sweet fruits, very good balance of dryness, wood and fruity sweetness. Very enjoyable nose, nothing is breaking too much through. Really invites to a taste.

Taste is dry and a bit sour, not bitter. No alcohol breaking through. Quite intense wood, but not overwhelming. Intense at first, but quickly leveling out. Notes of caramel, essences of herbs and some tobacco.

Finish is first a bit discrete, later evolving into clear wood in good balance of bitterness and aged sweetness. Good length.

9/19/2012 - DoubleT Likes this wine:

Enjoyed in official Glencairn Whisky Glass.

Nose is complex and mature oak in very good balance of sweet and dry. Alcohol fume is very faint, replaced with intense honey and mild spices. Hints of bitterness, also in good balance.

Taste is strong but mild. Very good balance of sweet and dry. Almost no bitterness. Very focus on oak, but clearly refined and mature. No real sugar and fruits, more discrete herbal and sweet wood.

Finish is milk with honey. Strong at once, but milder and sweeter by time. Hints of bitter taste at once, but evolves into rich characteristics of old wood.

9/16/2012 - DoubleT wrote:

Bottle popping reveals age, sweetness and fruity notes like a quality dessert wine.

Enjoyed in official Glencairn Whisky Glass.

Nose confirms the fruity essences. Good balance. Oak, sweetness, vanilla essence, some rum and caramel. A vague bitterness and hints of alcohol.

Taste does suprisingly not confirm the sweet fruity notes. Still fruity, but more dry and short, not bitter. Good balance. Mature oak, short but present. Mild complexity of fruit and vanilla. Maybe some chocolate, but again in a caramelized manner.

Finish is rather short, not present in the length to expect. Mild and raffined, but fast. Caramel and oak. An easy drinker, but not one to still have a comment on five minutes after a sip.

9/8/2012 - DoubleT Likes this wine:

Popping the bottle reveals Lagavulin as always. You are back home. Hunting season, bonfire in open landscape, clearly hevay peat in a good balance.

Tasted in Glencairn Whisky Glass.

Nose reveals more details than the bottle popping. Everything is powerful, very present and with peat as the main theme. Smoke, wood and hints of some sweetness to expect.

Taste confirms the nose in every way. Bonfire explodes and as flames are dying out the peat, smoke and wooden characters takes over. Hints of bitterness, but in a way that matches other tastes. Vague bittersweetness. Not a fast swallower, needs to take the tour in the mouth to tell you it's story.

Finish is peated, some bitter but quickly evolves into more sweet pinetar and good balanced smoke. Exceptional long finish for the age and price range. After several glasses finish is with you even next morning.

9/8/2012 - DoubleT Likes this wine:

Recognizeable Lagavulin as the bottle is popped, but exceptional more refined. Absolutely a must-smell-twice bottle opening. Can this be true at only 21 yo?

Enjoyed in official Glencairn Whisky Glass.

Nose is again recognized as Lagavulin, an invite to test out perfection. Exceptional compared to the 16 yo, and perhaps even more open and sweet than the 25 yo (!). Meets you with well-known peated character, but also with lots of detailed stories along. Strongest story tells you that angels had their wings over this one. Repeated nosing reveals almond essences, pinewood tar straight from the log, only hints of bonfire. Peat is there, but God what a perfect balance.

Taste is beyond exceptional. With expectations to go further than the 16 yo, but within the limits of the already legendary 25 yo this one aces. Time has gone slow these 21 years. Scents are more distinct than both mentioned, but in an almost perfect balance.

Finish is long, long long. As time lapses the sweetness comes to the surface and brings the peat into balance and perfection, even more to perfection than the 25 yo (!).

9/8/2012 - DoubleT Likes this wine:

Instant well-known Lagavulin as the bottle is popped, but clearly more refined, smooth and with more open scents at once.

Enjoyed in official Glencairn Whisky Glass (crystal cut for the ones with an eye for details).

Nose is again clearly recognized as classic Lagavulin, but with remarkable more sweetness than the 16 yo. Meets you with well-known peated character, but also with a detailed story along. Repeated nosing reveals caramel, fresh pinewood (corewood), bonfire trips and not so much heavy spices as the younger Lagavulins.

Taste is exceptional. With expectations to go further than the 16 yo this one really scores. It takes Lagavulin to a new level. All the details of bitterness, heavy peat and dry wood one on a bad day could criticize the 16 yo for has been remarkibly more balanced. Time has done its magic. Very smooth in mouth, several sweet notes evolves and builds up.

Finish is the most interesting. As time lapses the sweetness comes to the surface and brings the peat into balance and perfection.