"Lovely tropical fruits accompanied by a white pepper kick to kick out this rainy winter"
(Photo from Whiskybase)
Not the first bottling I will taste from Sansibar and I must say that so far they have been of good quality. If I see the score that today’s bottling from has on Whiskeybase than I should not doubt the quality. However, obviously we do not let ourselves influence by other people’s opinion, do we? Well, of course we do, but at least we will to taste it for ourselves before putting any scores there. It is a single malt that was distilled in 1975, before this whiskyblogger was born, at an undisclosed distillery in the Speyside region and bottled 41 years later.
Nose
Fuller nose than the North Star Spirits 1976. Lots of orange parts and banana cream, which gives it a nice sweetness. More cream mixed with mango and tinned pineapple. Tropical and fresh with a hint of white pepper to give it some spice. Tangerines, pineapple flavoured sweets, banana milk shake, fruit juice and a hint of ginger. Water brings some more balance and integrates the wood and fruits slightly better. More tangerines, less pepper, even more fruit juice.
Taste
First tropical fruits, than a bite from the alcohol, before the big wave of tropical fruits and oriental spices hits me. Yes, I really like this. There are some pencil shavings, but even that does not bother me at all. Although it fades rather fast. It is a summery dram, so maybe it is thirsty and needs some water. Yes, better! The spices supplement the fruits now perfectly. Ginger biscuits next to tropical fruit cocktail. Accompanied by lemon drizzled mango-vanilla pudding and peppered pineapple. The aftertaste is much longer and very satisfying. It gets oilier and I detect a hint of olives, I think. But it might be a having some signs of an initial sunstroke.
Overall
After the slight disappointment during my previous review, this has made up a lot. Lovely tropical fruits combined with a nice little white pepper kick. I would recommend to add just a little drop of water because in my experiences that opens up the whisky to add some extra depth. I also just love the creamy texture of the palate. Perfect summer dram, but also very enjoyable now in the middle of a rainy winter.
- Review 2020-004
- Single malt
- Undisclosed Speyside distillery
- Sansibar Whisky
- Distilled in 1975
- Bottled in 2015
- Fino sherry cask
- Natural colour
- Non chill-filtered
- 50.6
- 435 bottles
- ±500 (currently)
- Not available anymore
- Whiskybase #84938
What others say
Big thanks to for sharing the sample!
Scores
• these are my personal views, so do not take them too seriously… nothing beats tasting these for yourself •
- Tropical fruits
- Ginger biscuits
- Cream