31.38 Slippers by the fire (Vaults Collection)

Description

Can you see the paps of Jura from here? You just might be transported to the deer island on the inner hebrides of Scotland with a dram of 31.38 in your glass. Something truly magical happens to the spirit from distillery 31 with considerable age in the cask. Younger core-range examples often come across with notes of bitter cheese, or can be described as being lactic or even metallic. However, after 32 years in oak, more specifically a special extra-maturation in ex-Sauternes, that bitey cheddar becomes an old wine cellar. Soft ripe fruits, mystical smoke, incredibly mellow and delicate earthy dried apricots and almond flakes. This is really special. A contemplative dram from another era rarely seen at this age. Pop this one open after the family have left the lunch scraps on Christmas day and take it all in…

The nose made us smile – marzipan, Medjool dates and Turkish delight sweetness, salted spiced nuts, distant smoke from a croft chimney and an artist’s paint-spattered palette. The taste was incredibly mellow and delicate – ripe mango, sweet smoke, earthy dried apricots and almond flakes, with a leather and grape skin, slightly tannic finish. The reduced nose had one panellist picking strawberries, another entering a deli, while a third was in slippers, enjoying buttered crumpets and dark honey. The reduced palate was amazingly gentle and subtle, with tropical fruit syrupy sweetness. After 27 years in ex-bourbon wood, we transferred this into a first-fill Sauternes barrique.