Colour: gold. Nose: How delicate, how complex, how subtle after the 1970 and 1966 by the same bottler. This 1963 has got more dried fruits, camphor, menthol, quince jelly, some stunning floral notes (elderflowers), whiffs of old oils and greases and waxes, some walnuts again, then delicate touches of damp earth and our beloved mushrooms. In a way, it’s a lighter version of the Dragon. A little fresh butter as well. Mouth: There are flavours that are rarely to be seen in whisky, such as various vegetable soups (really), some lovely bitter nuts, or the insides of fruit stones, some kind of salty and maritime things… More classic tobacco after that, leather, smoked almonds, some polished wood (rather liquorice wood), mustard, even a little horseradish… Finish: long, and unexpectedly salty and leafy.
