Inchgower 30 Year Old 1982 'Pears and Almonds' Wemyss

You are totally forgiven for not having heard of Inchgower before. This distillery, owned by Diageo, produces for the blenders only. As a single malt, it only appeared in the Rare Malts and Flora & Fauna series. The bulk goes into Bell’s, White Horse and Johnnie Walker. That explains why this is only the 5th Inchgower to ever cross my lips. The funny thing is that all of these were distillates from 1982, just like this bottling from Wemyss.

Quite a nice nose! Potpourri, apple sauce, apple skins, pear syrup, yoghurt and… putty! But it works. It is nicely creamy and sweet, with a twist. A touch of candied sugar and marzipan, albeit in the background. Herbal side. Thyme? This is very pleasant indeed.

It is oily on the palate. Very spicy. Ginger and… curry! Mustard seeds, even. Strange combination, but quite nice. It even turns a bit salty, which seems strange. The pears and almonds from the title? I think I taste them, but I mostly get plums. This is very much like a plum liqueur. Midpalate, it becomes a bit floral. Violets? Lavender? Damn, that’s a pity, because it starts to dominate.

The finish is somewhat long, warm and spicy.

It started off real good with a great nose. I dropped the ball on the palate by being somewhat perfumy. But in the end, it is quite a fun Inchgower. Around 150 EUR.

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