My first Coleburn review! In fact, before today I'd only referenced the distillery once (11 years ago) in the history of this blog. This is the second Coleburn I've ever tried, the first being an AD Rattray cask that I don't remember.
Coleburn's production lasted 86 years, starting in 1899, mostly under the ownership of DCL→UD→Diageo, with DCL officially dropping the axe in 1985 as a reaction to a bumpy era of scotch sales. It had been one of the main malts in the Usher's blend, as well as making appearances in Johnnie Walker products, until it was deemed superfluous. The distillery still stands in the town of Longmorn, and bottler Murray McDavid currently uses its warehouses for their casks.
Today's Coleburn single malt is one of three '78s that Cadenhead bottled during their eh-fuck-the-cask green bottle era. A lot of their bottles from this range in the 1990s were raw rocket fuel with zany ABVs, which is a mixed blessing. The drinker gets a chance to try some nude spirit, but also some of the tired oak vessels were crap, resulting less than pleasurable experiences. I don't foresee an opportunity to review a second Coleburn, ever, so I'm just going to enjoy this experience.
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| actual bottle shot |
Executioner: Distillers Company Limited
NEAT
The nose begins very perfumy, but with patience and time one finds anise, burnt nuts, hay, and strawberry jam. It improves with time as it picks up clover honey, lemon peel, and shortbread biscuits. An OBE funk, reminiscent of '50s & '60s blends, lingers in the background throughout. It's surprisingly drinkable at full strength, never scorching the palate. No perfume. Yes unripened stone fruits and lemon pith. It slowly evolves into tart apricots and limoncello with a dash of cayenne pepper. Its intense finish is full of lemons and apricots, with a sprinkle of sea salt.
DILUTED to ~50%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Went easy with water here. The perfume note remains in the nose, but actual maltiness appears, along with wet stones, brown sugar, orange oil, and those shortbread biscuits. The palate is pepperier, sweeter, and with a touch of the OBE. A mix of tinned yellow peaches and fresh white peaches highlight the background. It finishes peppery and sweet with a hint of those peaches.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
This is one of the better green-glass-era Cadenhead whiskies that I've tried, accomplishing the bottler's intentions, if they had any. It's VERY spirit forward, but never raw. I could do without the perfume, but I cannot do without the fruit! So I like the palate better than the nose, in fact the palate is excellent. At 40%-46%abv the whisky might start to resemble many of its neighbors, not a bad thing for '70s Speysides and their fans, but thusly viewed as redundant to the planet's largest scotch blender. I have a several more samples from this green glass series, and I hope they're as good this one. Maybe one for the next birthday?
Availability - Maybe secondary? Are there Coleburn bottles on that market?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88
