Harrier Finest Matured Whisky

Miranda, one of my co-workers, visits South Africa every year on holiday. Once you go black… anyway… every time she brings me a local drink. This time around she selected a bottle of whisky by the name of Harrier. Smooth & Distinctive, the label say. It contains a blend of double distilled grain from South Africa and Scotch. The distilleries are kept secret, but the label also states ‘Bottled Under License from Imperial Distillers Co Ltd’. This blend costs between 6 and 10 EUR for a bottle (in South Africa). So the expectations are aligned.

The nose is fairly hard, actually. Wood glue, resin and bubblegum are the first notes to reach my nostrils, followed by a little fruit in the guise of apple and peach. Some nuts. In all honesty, this reminds me more of a liqueur or oak aged grappa than a whisky. But to say this is terrible, would not be fair. But do not leave it to breath for more than 5 minutes, because than it does turn terrible.

On the palate, it arrives honeysweet, a touch piquant with lots of wood spices, but the sweetness takes on a chemical trait, which is not very nice. Again hard. Or sharp, if you please. Not much fruit remains, because it turns truly candy-like. Haribo bears, anyone? Liquid acid drop.

The finish is medium long, drying and piquant.

Well… it would not be logical to expect more of this bottom shelf blend, but neat it is simply not good enough. Mix this baby. Thank anyway, Miranda (wait until our next evaluation moment, my revenge will be equally sweet).