Nose: A surprisingly dense and richly malted overture from the barley, with underlying honey notes coming through from the grain. The dynamic duo are in perfect harmony, with the barley very much the frontman and the grain on backing vocals. The Langs play through their set, offering us such favourites as wine-poached peaches, soft apples, raisins, and a floral-grassy dimension that reminds us of a young Glengoyne. Riffing off of that theme, there are soft hints of earthy seaweed and salt, with Lapsang Souchong tea and treacle offering a welcome and characterful twist to this very easy-listening nose.
Taste: There is a light, honeyed quality to the delivery, which like any old and well-travelled band is impeccably smooth. Some smokey raisins and a hint of soft spice decorate the lilting notes of melon and even faint parma ham, with the weighty malt of the barley still very much in major key, and the deft grainy buzz offering the melody a complex balance in minor key.
Finish: The closing harmonies are perhaps the more heartfelt, with an intensely sweet mint note echoing in the air, while the melon and parma-ham keyboard continues to riff over it, and the smokey malt violin and the oaky white wine bass play out their final bars.
Balance: This a very subtle and sophisticated whisky, perhaps almost arrogantly deft for a blend. Bottled by Ian Macleod, this whisky in fact made through their Glengoyne distillery, and it has plenty of the typical Glengoyne characteristics to it, in the same way that another of the great blends, Glenmorangie's Bailie Nicol Jarvie, has plenty of notable Glenmorangie characteristics to. However what makes both of these blends so great is their creative interpretation of their respective reference malts, much like an interesting cover of a classic old song. The old Glengoyne song no doubt remains a classic, however Langs Supreme shows how a good band can really take an old song and make it fresh and very much their own, without losing any of the class that made the song popular in the first place.
Nice review! I've been looking for a bottle or two of this on my side of the pond without success. I read somewhere that this is the Queen Mums favorite!
Many thanks @LeFrog! Indeed whisky and music certainly share a few similar qualities, and are a pretty tantalising combo when enjoyed together!
@TracerBullet: A blend fit for royalty it would seem! I just took a closer look at the Royal Family Emblem at the top of the bottle label and it reads "By appointment to H.M Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother". It seems she had great taste!