A tasting site dedicated to grain whisky.



Port Dundas 20yo (2011 Release)

Port Dundas Distillery - Port Dundas, Glasgow (demolished)
Diageo bottling.
WhiskyBase reference page

For info   Reviews on this site try to be pretty free-form, focusing on the overall feeling of the dram as well as specific flavours. The scoring is biased towards taste (the key factor!), and drams are always tested against a control or as part of a group test.
 

Tastes & Smells
The amazing colour of this is matched by a massive nose, coca cola, toffee and hot crme brle drifting in, then easing off a bit towards strawberry candy. Without water, it's just as intense in the mouth: BANG! - raw, tingly, crisp and creamy. The toffee features again, and it's reasonably sweet but gradually turns more savoury towards the end, even a bit dry and cloying (in a neutral way): like a soured sherry With water, lots of the flavours seem to vanish. The intensity reminded me a lot of the SMWS G5.8 Invergordon.

Graintacular?
I was really torn on this one - it was as beautifully intense as its wonderful colour. And this was an intensity of flavour, rather than raw power - a surprising feat for a grain whisky of only 20 years. But as soon as water went in, it seemed to get drowned out: the alcohol seemed to carry all the flavour. I summed it up in my head as being like a cracker: I love them with cheese, but I hate water biscuits. Keep it neat, have it with cheese and I reckon this could be more of a winner, but is it worth the risk at this price tag?

Summary & Ramblings
Something about this gave me a feeling of a birthday party - perhaps it was the fizzy nature, the sweetness, the crackers (OK, I meant the other kind and that's Christmas, but close enough). And what would ruin a birthday party? Drowning.


7.2
2.8

  It really was this colour!


tldr;
Intense, dark, sweet and sour. Looks amazing, but loses its appeal when water's added - not bang for your buck, but certainly bang.
 
 

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