And here is the other Speyside 1973 from Archives. It’s hard work you know. 😉 It’s a true pleasure to be able to try some of these bottles. All those 1973 undisclosed Speyside bottlings seem to be great whiskies. The combination of tropical fruits, the sweet honey and some freshness makes them all very enjoyable. Doing a side by side for these Archives 1973 Speysiders makes it even better. Now I have to try my two samples from the Whisky Agency as well.
This Speyside whisky has matured a fino sherry cask and is bottled at 46,8% ABV.
Speyside 1973 Archives tasting notes:
Nose: Tropical fruits like passion fruit, pineapple, guave. It’s floral but less floral then the other release (46.5%). A very nice fragrance on this one, floral and fruity notes and then leaning towards some herbs. There is some heather and ricola (the candy) in there too. Later on some light tobacco and a touch of oak. Then throw some applesauce in the mix to complete it all.
Taste: A nice abundance of fruity flavours: apricots, passion fruit, guave and some red fruits all coated in honey and a touch of herbs. After a little while there is some menthol too, a little bit of cinnamon and again some very nice sweetness. A bit of oak and leather, and maybe even some cacao. Definitely the more spicy and herbal version.
Finish: The finish is very long, quite some spices in here. Oak and pepper are noticable, I expected a little bit more dominant fruits and honey but this is leaning more towards the background. The spices are overpowering and the fruits are here as well but just a little bit. But it’s still a very good finish.
Overall: I think if I would have tasted this on its own, it would have been a different tasting note. I realized that I was really comparing and trying to describe what the differences between the two were, instead of just tasting the whisky as it is. Let’s not forget this is a very good 1973 whisky, not old or tired and still very vibrant in the taste. This is complex enough to classify this as a very, very good dram. I prefer the other one just a little bit more, but this is negligible.
Thanks to Whiskybase for the sample and the picture.
