Home Tasting: Inchgower 1974 35 Year Old The Whisky Agency Flowers

A fascinating flavor profile that adds a vitamin pill-like quality to the typical agency style. Inchgower INCHGOWER 1974-2009 35yo THE WHISKY AGENCY 'Flowers' 57.3% one of 195 bottles, EX-BOURBON HOGSHEAD ・Aroma: Strongly estery, with a floral aroma that exudes aging, pineapple, loquat, ripe oranges, slightly banana, wax, vanilla, honey becomes stronger over time, white floral notes, ginger-like from ginger ale, light maltiness, depth with vitamin pill-like and mint, faintly vitamin pill-like. ・Flavor: Spreads from a smooth mouthfeel with a gentle stimulation, similarly diverse fruity notes as the aroma, loquat and pineapple, ginger, savory wheatiness, strong honey sweetness with a rich body but not cloying, balanced acidity, a chemical-like vitamin pill sensation, and the aftertaste lingers with fruity notes. ・Aftertaste: Diverse fruity notes and a vitamin pill-like quality, with a moderately long finish. ・Dilution: Becomes more fruity, especially enhancing citrus notes. The honey sweetness remains the same, while the chemical sensation decreases. It might be better with a small amount of water added. ・Overall Review: A long-aged malt that offers an estery, diverse fruity experience typical of The Whisky Agency. Impressive were the gentle honey sweetness with a rich body and the unique vitamin pill-like chemical flavor. 【Good/Very Good】 One of the releases from The Whisky Agency's Flowers series, launched in 2009. I had tasted it at Yorochō at the time of release, and found the vitamin pill-like quality very interesting, which is why I purchased it as a bottle with distinctive character. I wanted to taste this unique character again, and also wondered how my malt friends would perceive it, so I decided to open it for a blind tasting. At the time of my previous taste, I thought it had a more pronounced chemical sensation, but this time I felt the estery quality typical of The Whisky Agency and diverse fruity notes were more prominent. Perhaps back then, there were many estery releases from The Whisky Agency, and since I often drank them together, this characteristic might have been masked. That said, even in the depth of the aroma and upon tasting, I clearly sensed a unique vitamin pill-like chemical flavor. During the blind tasting, my trusted taster also pointed out the same thing, so this must indeed be one of the bottle's distinctive characteristics. I have often used the term 'chemical' in the past, especially around Benriach, and initially hesitated to use it as it was an unfamiliar expression. However, recently I feel like the term has become more commonly heard in various places. This bottle differs from the chemical sensation I often mention, associated with tropical fruits like Benriach or Tomatin (similar to children's syrup medicine), but occasionally bottles with this vitamin pill-like chemical sensation do appear. While I don't use 'chemical' in a particularly positive sense, it's not necessarily an unpleasant characteristic either. In fact, bottles like this one can be purchased precisely because of their interesting qualities. A vitamin pill-like chemical flavor is often felt in long-aged, estery malts. It might be more about the maturation process rather than the distillery's individuality. #Inchgower (INCHGOWER) #Thoughts