Decadent Drinks ‘NAS’ Mortlach 10yo & Sponge Releases 74 & 69 | Various ABV

Trust.

It’s possible there’s no more important commodity in all of the world. I sometimes take it for granted how many of the things I do are based on implicit trust and, amazingly, how infrequently that trust is misplaced.

For example, recently I sent £10 via eBay to someone, somewhere (and they really could be anywhere) for a set of extremely specific pressure sensing tyre valves. It never crossed my mind they might take my money and not bother sending a thing, or what they did send would be non-functioning. I recall someone saying the fact eBay has mostly always worked is a minor miracle, because what should have happened is you send me a box full or junk and I send you a cheque that bounces.

Without trust you can’t do business, or much of anything else for that matter. We trust doctors to diagnose us and prescribe the right treatments when we’re ill. We don’t worry when crossing a bridge as we have faith in the competency of the engineers who designed it, the contractors who built it and the authority who oversees its maintenance. We’re confident the car in which we cross that bridge has been properly manufactured and won’t suddenly and dangerously fail.

Of course, sometimes things do go wrong. Medical malpractice, bridge collapses, spontaneously combusting cars. But these things are so dramatic, often so tragic, in part because they happen relatively rarely. Our implicit trust is usually appropriate. Never forget, though, that trust is hard won but easily squandered. 

We buy whisky. Where does trust enter the equation? On the implicit: “I don’t even think about it” level, we at least expect the liquid is safe to drink and won’t make us blind. Of course, this is context dependent – if the whisky proffered for sale is, for argument’s sake, on a sketchy market stall, is £5 a bottle and an unusual colour, we might re-evaluate that belief. Beyond the basic fact our whisky is indeed whisky, if more information is provided, such as a distillery of origin, an age statement or ABV, we trust these too will be true and accurate. As Hamish noted, however, our faith can be severely tested at times by a poor experience.

If you’re reading this, it’s a safe bet you’re engrossed in whisky, be that single malts or other styles. You may well be willing to spend more than the average bear on a bottle and you’re on the lookout for interesting, tasty stuff at a fair price. The best way to do so has got to be the classic – try before you buy. Whether at a festival, a bar or via a sample from a friend, if you’ve tried it and know you like it then you’re good to go.

However, with the speed at which some expressions are snapped up, trying before buying is not always an option. Instead, if you want it at all, you must buy on faith alone. To this end, we all have our own mental guides: brands whose output we trust in based on our past experience, and perhaps also the experiences of others. At times there’s a large scale consensus on who’s putting out good stuff at a reasonable price, which can be a key ingredient in the generation of frantic, frenzied release-day shenanigans. 

To my recollection, I’ve never previously tried any of the releases from the Whisky Sponge, or the Decadent Drinks umbrella under which Sponge editions and several others can be found. Yet, I feel reasonably assured the quality of their output is high. This is a slightly precarious position to take; what makes me believe this if I can’t rely on personal experience? Well, for one thing they tend to be well received: if you trawl through past reviews on this site alone, the majority score at least a 7 with respectable numbers hitting the highs of an 8 or 9. 

I also place some faith in the selections of Mr Sponge himself, head of products Angus MacRaild. He’s stated quite clearly he’s only willing to bottle whiskies and other spirits he truly believes to be worthwhile, exceptional even, and will happily bottle less frequently, passing on numerous possible casks in favour of searching for the next special one.

OK, I admit you’re unlikely to hear any bottler say some of their offerings are actually just a bit average, with perhaps even a few duffers thrown in from time to time. By the same token, you won’t see reference to coarse and knackered barrels and butts anywhere on labels or in anyone’s marketing blurbs; no indeed, it’s the finest, most carefully selected oak casks all the way.

I would argue, however, that Angus has demonstrably practiced what he preaches in a parallel path, that of his whisky writing. While he may pen tasting notes with relative frequency, his longer form musings are fewer and often further between. Again, he has been explicit about this. He prefers only to put his thoughts to paper at such times as he feels he has something worth saying. Whether it be serious and heartfelt, or a dose of pithy satire, I certainly believe he has far more hits than misses. It’s no way to drive engagement or maximise clicks, of course, but perhaps it’s the right way to curate a body of work over time that is as good as you can make it. 

Three different whiskies to try today, all samples picked up at the excellent Fife Whisky Festival. Let’s take them from youngest to oldest, from Speyside to Islay and back to the Highlands. Do good casks really come to those who wait, or have I been a naïve rube?

Review 1/3

Mortlach 10yo, Decadent Drinks NAS (Notable Age Statements), 58.5% ABV
£99 sold out

From Sponge: ”It was filled into refill hogsheads in 2012, aged for just under 8 years, then consolidated and re-racked into 1st fill sherry butts. This butt was bottled at 48.5% for our Equinox & Solstice Winter 2022 edition, and also at natural cask strength for this edition of Notable Age Statements.“

Nose

Big. Candied ham with orange and Christmas cake spices. There’s a rich oily note, linseed maybe. A greenish herbal note I can’t quite pin down, then black pepper and some astringency. Strong Vietnamese black coffee. Water opens up a slightly mashy cereal note.

Palate

Sweet for a brief moment then turns more sour. Peppery for sure and other dry spices, black cardamon. Red dates, stewed prunes and some burnt caramel. A pretty long finish on dry spice almost to the point of an ash note, but the oiliness comes back to restore balance and stop it being overly drying. A tiny drop of water opens the space out between all the flavours, tamps down a bit on the dry spice elements, and amps up the sweetness.

Score: 7/10 EMc

Review 2/3

Bowmore 18yo, Whisky Sponge Edition No. 74, 55.3% ABV
£350 still available

From Sponge: ”This is an 18 year old Bowmore. It was distilled in 2003 and matured in a refill sherry butt, however a few years ago its maturation was 'broken' by spending some time out of cask. It was then put back into a different refill sherry butt to continue maturing. Hence the age being 18 years old.“

Nose

Immediately delicious, complex and inviting. Salt spray across a pebble beach. Rich linseed oil. Lightly smoked cereals. Very sweet, on rich toffee, which grows with time in the glass. Vanilla and almonds. Soft fruits; nectarine, peach and guava. Hints of dry spice. With time a mildly farmy note develops, straw and manure.

Palate

More peaty than I expected, wood smoke and a vegetal element, but tempered by vanilla sugar sweetness and fruits. Rich toasted cereals and cracked black pepper and a little salt. It has an oily and viscous mouthfeel as well as notes of linseed or rapeseed oil. The finish is long; a little ashy and briefly threatens bitterness but that fades leaving charred cereal with caramelised sugars.

Score 9/10 EMc

Review 3/3

Ardmore 22yo, Whisky Sponge Edition No. 69, 54.2% ABV
£235 still available

From Sponge: “We don’t normally go for whiskies that have been finished or re-racked. However, in this instance, the quality and richness of the sherry influence married so well with the fat, lightly peaty Ardmore distillate character that we couldn’t resist this lovely dark and gooey concoction.”

Nose

Sweet, rich and resinous. Nutty sherry. Wood smoke and straw bales. Cinnamon, clove and white pepper. Stewed tea, dark fruits and marzipan, or in other words the ingredients for a delicious cake. There’s a sour cherry note after a while.

Palate

Sweet with chewy toffee and white pepper spiciness. A hint of almond. Smoke slides in then persists, a lovely coal ash note. This fuses with the drying sensation that rolls into the finish; black tea with citrus but tempered all the way by dark stewed fruits. The finish is a little shorter than I had expected.

Score: 7/10 EMc

The Dregs

The Mortlach is good fun. Big bold flavours, all of them well balanced. The Ardmore is similarly punchy, but with the added bonus of both a hint of smoke and significant age. Everything is nicely integrated. A judicious use of sherry maturation in both cases.

The Bowmore is a different beast, showcasing the much lighter touch of refill sherry wood. It’s simply excellent, one of the most enjoyable whiskies I’ve had in quite a while. It’s beautifully complex, the nose promises much and it is delivered in spades when you taste it. I don’t know how it compares to similarly well-aged Bowmores as I sadly haven’t had enough opportunities to try them. However, with this dram I feel I’ve gained a little understanding of the high praise it can garner.

So, fine drams all. It’s commonly held that you need a minimum of three data points before you can possibly establish a trend. Three whiskies sampled and my conclusion is a happily positive one. I was predisposed to have faith in the choices of the spongey fella and I’ve found nothing to change my mind here. You can quibble over the prices, these are all pretty expensive for me, but this is increasingly the way things are going. If you want notable names or significant age statements (or both)  you can expect hefty price tags. That applies to the cask market as well as the bottles on the shelves of retailers. I’ll keep an eye on the more affordable options such as future Notable Age Statements and the Equinox and Solstice range and, wherever possible, try before I buy.

Tried these? Share your thoughts in the comments below. EMc

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