The Exclusive Blended Malt 40 year old 1977 Creative Whisky Company

Some of David Stirk's best Creative Whisky Company releases were his blends — I'd still love to track down a bottle of the 20yo 1994 blended malt someday somehow — so I recently leapt at the opportunity to be part of a bottle split of CWC's 40 year old 1977 vatting. This oldie came from sherry butts and I'm not sure of its ingredients nor its outturn. At 42.9%abv, some elements needed bottling/blending before they were no longer "whisky", but that doesn't mean it those parts were bad, they just needed some TLC ASAP, and CWC was able to provide that service. And now it's time to run that whisky through my liver.

Bottler: The Creative Whisky Company

Range: Exclusive Blends

Type: Blended (or Vatted) Malt

Distilleries: ???

Age: minimum 40 years (1977 - 201?)

Maturation: sherry butts
Outturn: ???

Alcohol by Volume: 42.9%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

It's like nosing the inside of a gorgeous old cask in a dunnage, an earthy, musty smell that cannot be rushed. The sherry leans towards Palo Cortado or drier Olorosos, so more nuts (walnuts, pecans, Brazils) are present than dried fruits. Candied orange peels sneak in around the edges.

Dunnage and mushroom-ish umami notes lead the palate, with yuzus and limes in the midground. Hints of dates, tobacco, and wormwood float through the background. Oak does edge in slowly over time, but it brings much more spice than generic bitterness.

The long finish offers cloves, dried mint, and yuzu juice, as well as hints of menthol and anise.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This would have been another great bottle to own, and that's not just because the whisky was old. A blend can indeed go wrong when its ingredients have three or four decades on them. The structure may become frail and/or woody bitterness can take over. This vatting was bottled just in time, before those problems set in. So it's extremely drinkable, never too sweet, never too bitter, and a delight to nose.

Up next, a 36 year old blend from another indie bottler...

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - I don't think it was much more than $300
Rating - 88