AN EXOTIC DESSERT – Score: 7.5/10
While passing through the austere city of Geneva, I stopped at the Hôtel de la Cigogne, not far from the famed Rue du Rhône and the charming old town.
I dined in the restaurant that graces the ground floor. Although the service was, to say the least, brisk, I noticed with my eagle eye a bottle bearing an interesting label: a Gordon & MacPhail’s from the Rare Old series, recognizable by its cream and chocolate two-tone label.
I therefore asked the maître d’hôtel if he could bring the bottle closer, which he willingly did. Thus, I discovered this Ayrshire (better known as Ladyburn) from 1970, aged thirty years.
No specific indication regarding its maturation, but I suspect a first-fill bourbon cask.
Despite the tumbler granted to me in lieu of an absent Glencairn glass, I was able to discern a subtle and pleasantly airy whisky. The fruity notes of bananas and passion fruit are fleeting yet unmistakably recognizable. A hint of sulfur concludes the liqueur-like tasting of an eminently pleasant whisky, but unfortunately a tad too light. Doubtless the result of an overly pronounced dilution to 40%.
