Mannochmore is, to me at least, one of those distilleries that pops up with something really good every decade or so, and then is quickly forgotten about.
Just before deleting the second paragraph I decided to look down the annals of the Usquebaugh Society’s Blind Tasting Competition because I was writing about being blown away by a Mannochmore bottled by the SMWS, which was part of that competition. Luckily, I did, because it turned out to be a Balmenach. An equally overlooked distillery, but still not quite the same…
Anyway, recently Mannochmore popped up in ‘The Ghost Piper of Clanyard Bay‘, by Fable. And now I found a sample of this one near the front of my sample shelf. Being near the front means it’s been a recent addition, but I scarcely remember from whom I got the sample. As I never do.
Sniff:
Very malt driven, with lots of barley and porridge. Some orchard fruits like apples and white grapes. Baked apples too, but apart from that it’s a bit flat.
Sip:
A veritable mountain of barley must have gone into this whisky, since there’s almost nothing else to be discovered. Grain, grain, grain. It’d be an interesting style for the Terroir things that Waterford, and to a lesser extent Springbank, Kilchoman and Bruichladdich are doing. Some apples, white grapes, oatmeal cakes and a slightly creamy note.
Swallow:
The finish is a little bit more rich than the palate was. It’s more a pastry note, than a raw grain note here. Barley and oatmeal still.
Well, I’m not entirely sure what to say about it apart from the fact that there’s actually just one note to be found, with some things that are found by association. It’s a malt whisky, that’s for sure, but other than that I find this one very, very boring. Not bad, just very boring.
82/100
Malt Fascination 