Subscription and Drams By Post services are always a mixed bag for me. I love being able to try samples, but I hate spending my whisky budget on surprises. When I first saw The Malt Library online I was curious. Being able to pick my own selection of 30ml old and rare samples sounded fun, but old and rare isn’t my forte when my taste skews towards big drams and bigger cask finishes.
However, the range on the Malt Library is broad and I spied several one day that caught my eye so I placed an order. Shipping is £6 no matter how much you order and it arrived frighteningly fast with just over 24 hours between ordering and delivery. The parcel was well packaged to the point that I struggled to get into it but I’m sure we can all agree that with whisky – caution is king. Inside amid plenty of padding were my four 30ml samples along with their tasting notes in a little envelope which was cute and a nice touch. However, I quickly discarded them for the purposes of this review because whenever I do tasting notes I am very susceptible to being steered.
Dufftown 8 Year Old (1980s)
Arthur Bell & Sons – 40% – £9
I really enjoy modern Dufftown so the opportunity to try a 1980s one at a low price was a no brainer.
There’s not a lot to report on the nose. Berries and vanilla. A slight hint of wood polish. The palate has a lot more to enjoy. It’s still very much stone fruit and polished wood but it’s hitting in fuller force with a bit of minerality. The finish is quite long with the cereal and apple I expect from modern Dufftown. This is very drinkable and the sample I actually finished first after my review.
Mortlach 13 Year old (1990)
Signatory Vintage – 43% – £12
We’re only pushing the ABV by 3% here but the flavours are about to rocket up. I picked this one as I’ve recently been blown away by newer Mortlach independent bottlings and 1990 is my birth year.
I get Orchard fruit, leather, wet stone and baking spices on the nose. Yep, this is Mortlach-y. Meanwhile the palate is chewy and heavy. I like a beefy Mortlach but this one doesn’t hit right. All the notes from the nose are gone and I’m left with oily caramel, ginger, and not much else.
Its finish lingers like a young cask strength malt that it coats the mouth but doesn’t say much.
Bunnahabhin 11 Years Old (2009)
The Ultimate – 68.9% – £14
A sherried Bunna cresting close to 70%? Yes please! This is the strongest Bunna ever bottled according to the Malt Library and I just had to pick it.
I love my strong drams and the nose coming off this one is lovely once you get past the vapours. It’s a classic sherry bomb to me with leather, dates and dark chocolate. I’d call it Stiùireadair’s more beautiful but more angry sibling.
Trying to drink this one isn’t easy. It’s hot and doesn’t give up. There’s a lot to unpack but to do that I need to take it down with just a touch of water. It’s oily, salty and sweet at first but the sherried sweetness of caramel and dried fruit takes over and carries through. There’s a real minerality to the palate and a slightly meaty note. The finish is sweet raisins with a little bit of BBQ meat and minerality.
Perhaps the only criticism I could give this one is that I get a similar experience from other young distilleries for far less money than a full bottle of this would set me back at auction.
Bunnahabhin 11 Years Old (2009)
Signatory Vintage – 68% – £14
I am reviewing this one last despite the slightly lower ABV as it was a free gift included with my trio I paid for. The Malt Library didn’t know that I would be reviewing their service when I paid for my order. They clearly just thought it was worth trying.
This Bunnahabhain is a sister cask to the last one. I was expecting a lot of similarity and didn’t get it! At the beginning I preferred this one. The nose is a very similar sherry overall but it has a drier and more balsamic note amid the leather and chocolate. I could smell this one for hours.
On the palate this one just plain easier at 68%. I know its not just the tiny percentage change but this is lighter overall. The notes have shifted about for me. It’s less sweet, much more tannic with dry wood and petrichor rather than fruit and caramel. It is good stuff, and interesting, but more off profile versus what I expect. Water sweetens it, bringing it closer to type, but whether that’s a good thing or not is subjective.
This finish is shorter, but still as long as needed for such a weight of spirit and ABV. Much more fruity with a little bit of water too.
I think The Ultimate wins over Signatory Vintage for me overall, but I must admit the Signatory is closer to what I’d want to find from a service like Malt Library and IBs in general – the drams that stick out and are different.
Overall it was fun to try these and even better that I got to pick them and tell my own story based on my tastes, rather than many other drams by post services that either restrict you to sets or make you go in blind. The Dufftown was a pleasant surprise, the two Bunnahabhains were always going to be good. It’s a shame about the Mortlach but it was interesting to try one from 1990.
So is there a catch I’m about to bring up? Yes, and it’s not what you expect.
Every time I so much as touch one of these little samples my hands turn purple with the wax seal. Opening and closing them for tasting turns my hand into Barney the Dinosaur’s. The picture below shows just a single open/close on one of these samples. The wax is handsome, and certainly adds to the flair, but maybe keep some wet wipes close at hand and avoid wearing white when you try yours – the wax will spread with a single touch.
Wax troubles aside, The Malt Library is a neat little service and if you have a whisky person in your life that you know the tastes of then you could build them a lovely gift there. Whilst I’m less interested in their own subscription-ish service (I like choice and control) I will be keeping a close eye on them to see what crops up on there next.
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