The Marketing Malt 2008 Whisky Sponge Edition N°88 15 yo

 

 

 

57,1° (100° Proof)

Distillery Officially Unknown - Speyside

Sherry Cask

Independent Bottling 

By Decadent Drinks 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask

Bottled in 2024

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

The 88th expression in the Whisky Sponge range comes from an undisclosed distillery, and is a 15-year-old heavily marked by a Sherry cask that produced 228 bottles. The distillery is secret, but according to the note on the Decadent Drinks website, it no longer exists, and this is a tribute to it, with this bottling reduced to 100° Proof, in the old-fashioned way. The distillery in question is Macallan, which closed in 2014, and whose new site opened in 2017. Like Clynelish in the 1960s, the old distillery was mothballed to open a new one next door, which produced more, and was given the same name. The bottle we have here is therefore a reminder of a bygone era, as it is impossible to produce exactly the same malt on another site. For Whisky Sponge, the new site is a ‘lifesize version of Teletubby land’, needless to say that for them, as for many connoisseurs, the current Macallan is no more than a vague imitation of what the old distillery used to offer.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Very rich sherry, with a hint of rancio. Crushed grapes, blackberry juice and raspberry jam, plums, damsons, prunes. Some earthy notes. Well-balanced. Woody-smoky amadou, dead leaves, Aosta ham, with a gooseberry on the top. Oak bark. On the palate, it's bright, silky, honeyed, cranberry jam and fairly strong but restrained spices, pepper and nutmeg. Drops of pear juice, green tea. The finish is long, powerful just as it should be, still green tea, this time accompanied by melted liquorice. Forest undergrowth, brown tobacco. Caramel lollipop, varnished wood, a pinch of salt, milk chocolate.

 

In Short, 

The Sherry Bomb in its purest form, the quintessential Sherry. It's exactly as it should be, with a cascade of crushed fruits, tobacco, caramel, a few dried fruits and a few meaty notes. For me, it's perfect. As is so often the case with Whisky Sponge, the bottling was sold out within hours or even minutes of its release, the price was a little high but acceptable, today you can still find it on the second market, but it's more expensive.

Score : 91

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           JMSN - Don't Make Me Change