Recently smitten by Mortlach I've been out looking for cask strength offerings after buying the G&M 15yo 43% which is superb and picked up this Murray Mcdavid Mission series, 1990 17yo limited edition at 54.7%. Without water: Beautiful deep burnt orange colour with an amazing nose of rich sherry fruit cake with a zing of lemon and sherbet fizzing right out of the glass. The taste is quite unusual with an immediate coating of liquorice sherry syrup then leaping straight onto a multi-stage finish with no obvious middle stage. The finish is unbelievably long, starting with a burnt orange intensity then developing along the tongue and roof of the mouth into a sherbet lemon explosion then precise sulphuric bite... ultimately finishing with a long malty aftertaste that seems to linger for minutes and literally tingle and fizz on the lips. With water: The colour lightens and becomes misty, the nose opens up and becomes more honeyed.. on the tongue the rich fruit malt comes to the fore with the multi staged finish fizzing and moving around like a fairground ride. Great utilization of the 54.7% , subtle then surprising and fun.
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