Mortlach 1993 25 Year (Adelphi)

Professional whiskey reviewers' loyalties are often unclear. I mean the ones who blog after their day jobs. You never know if free samples influenced them or if they're being genuine. Also, their taste preferences might differ vastly from yours. You might enjoy a hint of ghost pepper in your food, while they can't handle spice beyond green bell peppers. Anyway, I do follow one reviewer regularly, Dave Broom. When he gave this a 95-point rating, which is quite rare, it certainly caught my attention. I can't recall many 95-point scores from him. Naturally, supply and demand take over: the easier it is to get a bottle, the less hyped it is by a renowned reviewer. I was fortunate to get one; it was sold out a minute later. This is simply outstanding. I'd rank it among my top 5 of all time. It's elegant, with layers of flavor that unfold, beginning with melted milk chocolate, followed by dark berries, oranges, and finishing with burnt leather. If you encounter this, buy it. Frankly, the only ones I recall enjoying more were the Brora and Yamazaki 18. And those cost significantly more.

Exceptional. Laden with dried and tropical fruits, chocolate, mint, and floral notes, along with hints of the characteristic meaty Mortlach profile. A certain renowned critic clearly knew what he was doing with his high score. Nose: Oranges, papayas, mangoes, milk chocolate, leather, tobacco, oranges, peaches, toffee, peppermint candy canes, honey, sultanas, beef, pork, almonds, Christmas cakes, lavender, bananas, spearmint, beeswax. Palate: Raisins, chocolate chip cookies, cherries, dates, figs, prunes, dark chocolate, grapefruits, honey, banana bread, walnuts, brown butter cake, hazelnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, beef, oranges, maple syrup. Finish: Raisins, milk chocolate, grilled pineapples, peppermint, licorice, red apples, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, chili, figs, dates, mangoes, papayas.

Dramfest 2020. It's a testament to the impressive variety of drams that even a great one didn't make my top 10. My palate was a bit overwhelmed, so perhaps another day, another setting would yield a different result. Other attendees shared a similar sentiment, with two friends rating some of the younger Alephi offerings higher.