NV The Last Drop Double Matured Blended Scotch 50YO 51.80%

Would you have gambled The Last Drop 1960 liquid in new sherry wood for four more years? The indulgent nose proffers maple syrup, buckwheat honey, roasted spices, blue grapes, pomegranate, raspberry compote, cilantro, pandan leaf, and beefsteak juices soaking into mushroom gills. The complex, lustrous mouthfeel is replete with a sheen of rich maltiness, molasses lashed by sherry before a dry, resinous finish. Water brings an oily nuttiness, then further drops produce a silky, clingy texture. Glorious. Miraculous. Victorious. (388 bottles only)

TLD's sixth release captivates with dark caramel, Brazil nut, polished oak, cacao, scorched earth, grilled field mushroom, and roasted coffee bean aromas. To sip is to submit to a discombobulating whirl of cherry and jellied black fruits replete with old sherry characteristics, replaced by an unctuous, oily base, torn asunder by seething spices of clove, pepper, and star anise. Ever-changing. Muted exit of dulled spice, browning apple, and eucalyptus. (898 bottles)

You’d expect, after half a century in wood, that this would be a quiet dram, just enjoying its final years with its feet up and arms behind its head. Instead we have a fairly aggressive blend determined to drive the abundant fruitiness it still possesses to the very hilt. It is backed up all the way by a surprising degree of warming, busy spice. There is a hell of a lot of life in this beautiful ol’ dog.