The Brora 35 Year 2013 Limited Edition

Tasting notes:
The nose opens with anise and fruit and lemon pepper pasta dipped in a fast-hardening gelatin before being deftly tied into a bow tie (an actual bow tie, not farfalle). Then comes scents of wrapping paper produced by a 2000 year old Japanese paper making company that they’ve crafted from apricot and vetch.  There’s also a charcoaly smell here that’s iron-rich, like an iron infused genetic mutant or Mother Nature’s menses.  The mouth opens with sweet tobacco smoke and the smell of a poorly maintained hermit crab terrarium, replete with celery salt and a side of Old Bay® in anticipation of the day. In the middle are distinct flavors of fig jello shooters on a date (the fruit; fig jello shooters are highly contraindicated in dating life). As the mouth yields slowly to the finish, there’s liquified gold bullion used to start a soup–or perhaps in France, a coup (a soupçon of coup? a cup of coup?).  It’s the concentrated Power of Love (please don’t sue us Huey Lewis) blowing out the tailpipe of a DeLorean, taking us 35 years back to the present.  The finish is communion wafers being used as communion wagers (“I bet he never notices we replaced the incense with Folgers Crystals.”), sealed with a pinky swear at the altar.  There’s also a bitterness on the finish, as it starts tart, then goes dry, like cough syrup designed by and for a Mennonite sect (it’s non-medicinal and makes the coughing worse, to the glory of God).  We found the finish interesting, but just short of delicious in a herbaceous, tannic, woody, lemon rindy, chewing chickory sprigs-y kinda way. But there’s complexity woven deep into the finish, and it spins and twists and pirouettes on your tongue, demanding your attention and your affection.  You won’t be able to say no.

Rating: