Rare Malts Brora 1977, 21 Years Old

Tasted in Whisky Magazine Issue 3 by Michael Jackson and Jim Murray.

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Tasting Notes

Michael Jackson Nose Very appetising. Fresh sea air. Salty. Seaweed on the rocks. Fragrant, smoky. Palate Oily, tarry, chewy. Very spicy indeed. Stinging flavours. Lots of flavour development. Grassiness. Gorse. Flowering currant. Sweet mustard. Finish Pepper. Hot mustard. Grainy. Cumin. Comment A lovely coastal malt. It’s a shame that its surviving brother Clynelish is more muted.

Jim Murray Nose Bracing and intense. Sea-spray and sawdust and the lightest of smoke. Marvellously evocative and appealing. Palate Fat, massively bodied with powerful peat that was missing on the nose. The saltiness seeps through and the malts remains clean and chewy. Finish Intense vanilla and then drier oaky tones battle against the lingering sweet peat. Comment What a fabulous whisky of extraordinary complexity and wonderful balance. Masterful.