Douglas Laing St Magdalene Tasting Notes

Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask St Magdalene 1982 (29 year old) 50%

Refill Sherry Butt/ Code: OMC2095/ DL7662

Dist: Oct 1982 Btl: Oct 2011/ Tasted: Nov 2011

A seriously perfumed nose – Violets, lavender, oriental spices. A shade on the sweet side (granulated sugar) but there are some hints of dried corn husks, incense and clean, spicy bourbon oak. Seriously complex and beautifully aged. 

Soft and dry on the palate. The soft tannins show first but as often is the case with St Magdalene the spirit really does have the guts to stand up to it and adds, surprisingly a fair degree of malt along with honey and piquant spices. Lovely length, robust, yet elegant and lively with hints of light Italian coffee, granulated sugar, violets and cinnamon.

Speciality Drinks Linlithgow Tasting Notes

Speciality Drinks ‘The Single Malts of Scotland’ Linlithgow 1982 (26 year old) 63.7%

Refill Sherry Butt/ Dist: Oct 1982 Btl: Oct 2008

Intense and earthy nose. Showing more maturity and an almost Islay-esque peaty/ manurey note. Very good! With water it emphasises the silky orange fruit and maybe brings out a touch of pineapple(?) amid all the peatiness.

The palate is oily with old straw and peat. Can’t taste much else beyond the alcohol! Water mellows but doesn’t really do much else apart from maybe emphasising the coffee’d wood notes. Disappointing! Moderate, spicy finish. Water again doesn’t change it much maybe brining out a grassy after taste. In conclusion it’s not exactly typical. Really interesting nose but lets itself down on the dull palate. Shame.

Murray McDavid Linlithgow/ St Magdalene Tasting Notes

Murray McDavid ‘Mission Gold Series’ St Magdalene 1982 (24 year old) 58.3%

Bourbon – Port/ Dist: 1982 Btl: 2006/ Tasted: May 2007

Luxuriously rich aromas of coffee, honey, tawny fruits dipped in oh so sweet spices. Awesome complexity with some lemon fruit notes. Lovely and soft on the palate, again very spicy with the cask finish dominating the palate with touches of tawny fruit, quiet dry with a good length with a touch of salt and wood tannins.

A drop of water really brings this malt to life emphasizing the mature honey and natural caramel on the nose. On the palate it allows the distillery character of perfumed grassiness to just about force its way through the port, and I have to say it has a lovely balance for a port finish.

Murray McDavid ‘Mission Gold Series’ Linlithgow 1982 (25 year old) 51.4%

Bourbon – Cognac/ Dist: 1982 Btl: 2007/ Tasted: Dec 2010S

An earthy, musty oak dominated nose. It’s an odd nose which is sometimes candied sweet and sometimes oily with sawdust, herbs and a cognac dried fruit rancio. Even given the mustiness I’m not sure this really works.

The plate is soft with plenty of dried fruit and cognac notes, again it all feels a bit odd. Like the nose it is very woody with hints of barky liquorice, earth and more dried fruit. I think there is some spirit underneath all that. It’s quite long and pretty much all oak, which is not surprising given that it’s a light lowland, finishing with a rather candied after taste.

With water the nose become slightly oilier and a lot more candied. However as the water strips away a lot of the oak it now shows up the spirit. And that spirit is old and creaking. Pretty flat, candied and homogonous. Definitely not worth £80.

Ian Macleod St Magdalene Tasting Notes

Ian Macleod ‘Dun Bheagan’ St Magdalene 1982 (26 year old) 50%

Sherry Butt 2219/Dist: Oct 1982 Btl May 2009

Muted, soft, oily nose. Seems very old with not much fruit. Sniff hard and there is a vague hint of something fruity, but it has a slightly dirty edge and prickly.

The palate is oily and mature with old grass, straw and rushes and not much fruit and that tasted old too! Moderate length, practically all alcohol Too old. The fruit has gone south and it’s left behind an alcoholic, slightly dirty nothingness. Should have been bottled years ago.

Hart Brothers St Magdalene Tasting Notes

Hart Brothers ‘Finest Collection’ St Magdalene 1982 (21 year old) 56.5%

Dist: Sept 1982 Btl: Nov 2003/ Tasted: Dec 2004

A pleasantly aged nose. Very intense and earthy with bourbon oak, citrus fruit, a touch of cream and yellow skinned summer fruits.

Dry on the palate with a pleasant intensity of citrus fruit, flowers, grass, hay and American oak. Soft yet balancing alcohol with a late spice note. It’s ok.

Berry Brothers St Magdalene

Berry Bros & Rudd ‘Berrys’ Own Selection’ St Magdalene 1982 (26 year old) 46%

Bourbon Cask 2199/ Dist: 1982 Btl: 2008/Tasted: Sept 2008

Light and grassy nose with a prickly alcohol sensation. There’s lovely old honey, earth and apricot fruit, along with decaying rose petals and a late vanilla/ buttery surge. Delightfully mature but still retains a crispness to the aromas. Water emphasises the liquid honey and vanilla.

The palate is soft and full of squishy mature yellow fruit, apricots and grass. Straightforward with the alcohol being quiet noticeable. Short and alcoholic.

Water makes the nose a bit watery and vague and a lot sweeter. It lengthens the palate a tad but the sweetness is rather cloying. In conclusion it is pleasant, mature nose, ok palate then you are hit by the alcohol. Water makes it unbearably sweet, watery and sends the fruit south so to speak. Just a bit too old I would say

Berry Bros & Rudd ‘Berrys’ Own Selection’ St Magdalene 1982 (27 year old) 46%

Bourbon Cask 2222/ Dist: 1982 Btl: 2009/ Tasted July 2009

A lovely fresh nose with a great degree of grassy/ citrus fruit is evident from the word go. Stunning depth of earthy orange fruit, gentle wood spices and a late creamy oak note. The fruit has a delightful perfumed quality.

The palate is oily, mellow and mature. A mouthful of lovely earthy citrus fruit, grass and wood spices. A lovely length with the grassy/ citrus flavours lingering.