Mannochmore 12 Year Flora & Fauna

One of the great things about attempting to try a sample of every active Scottish distillery is that you learn a lot of things about places you never knew really existed, and in our case, you get to try whisky from distilleries that aren’t readily available in our area. The bad part- you find out that quite a few of these distilleries belong exclusively in blends. Sadly, this is one of the latter: Mannochmore. Specifically, the Diageo Flora & Fauna released, 12 year old. Mannochmore was founded in 1971 by John Haig & Co, in the Speyside town of Elgin. It was mothballed in 1985, while later re-opening in 1995 on a crazy year-on/year-off schedule with the neighboring Glenlossie Distillery. They shared employees for many years, until Mannochmore was fully staffed and resumed a full-time operating schedule in 2008, under Diageo. They have an annual production of 3.2 million liters, with their stuff going primarily into Haig Club blends. They are also a part of the Flora & Fauna releases from Diageo- check out a video on YouTube from Aqvavitae about the entire F&F series- it’s a fun and informative program. Moving on, this whisky is bottled at 43%, has color added and is chill-filtered. It’s light gold and produces lots of oily legs in the Glencairn when you give it a spin. The nose is very buttery with hints of young oak and light florals. I even detected some yellow cake mix in there on subsequent sips. The palate is also reminiscent of buttered popcorn with a medium, mouthfeel that turns to harsh oak rather quickly. There isn’t any depth or complexity to this malt at all, the butter notes quickly turn somewhat rancid and unenjoyable. I even dumped the last 0.5oz or so into the sink. The finish was medium length with a continued theme of bitter oak and butter. Overall, I can’t see why Diageo would want to showcase this malt in the Flora & Fauna series- this one is clearly not something I’d want to celebrate- much less add to a blend. Oh well, they know something we all don’t and it remains an operating distillery. I’d avoid this one altogether. 1.5-1.75 stars. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go chug a bottle of hot sauce to get this butter taste out of my mouth. Thanks to my friend @PBMichiganWolverine for wasting his money on this so I didn’t have to. Cheers.

Nose: Grass, hay, grapefruit, green apple peel. A little honey and vanilla with some planky, fresh-sawn wood as it opens in the glass. It’s a light, bright and breezy nose but it does gain a little heft with time. Palate: Brief sweet arrival mainly featuring barley-sugar and herbal lozenges. The development follows quickly and sees grassy notes predominating and an emerging bittersweet tang of tart citrus peel and unsweetened black tea. The texture is full but there is an overall astringent note to the palate. Finish: Medium/short. Grassy, spicy and bitter-sour on the aftertaste, reminiscent of bitter orange or even gentian. An average Flora & Fauna bottling of Mannochmore that shows all its typical grassy notes. It’s not the most elegant expression I’ve had from this distillery and it supports my opinion that Mannochmore is a distillate that is great for blending but can be safely ignored as a single malt. There's really not much to see here. Adding a dash of water diminishes the nose but improves the palate by bringing out some buttery sweetness but the spicy, bitter notes never retreat. Adding sweet soft drink makes it agreeable, but that reduces it to little more than a grassy mixing whisky at an inflated price. You would be a lot better off with three bottles of Jameson for the same money. For what it's worth I disagree with almost every word of the official Distiller review for this. It's not a deep nose, it's not a sweet palate and there is only the faintest wisp of something resembling smoke. Tasted from a 30ml sampler. “Average” : 76/100 (2.5 stars)

Stop number 87 on the SDT is Mannochmore. For a detailed rundown on the Mannochmore distillery please see Lee’s review of this single malt. He did all the hard work as far as that goes. Bottled at 43% ABV and is chill filtered and has colorant added making it a yellow gold. The nose is strong bourbony oak, clearly this was bourbon matured. Honey, strong floral notes, mint, vanilla and tobacco. Leathery, brown sugar, almonds and more bourbon notes. Light cinnamon, fennel, hay and dry grasses. A touch salty, caramel, toffee and peanut brittle. It becomes chalky with a mineral note towards the bottom of the glass. Not bad, but not enough strength to carry the flavors adequately. The palate begins quite fruity. Nectarines, peaches, apricots, and orange oil. Slightly bitter oak, dark chocolate or cocoa powder and some leather. A bit of a BBQ note, floral and earthy. I suspect there may be more to this one, but family duties distracted me through much of the tasting and I wasn’t able to fully focus. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is fairly dry. The finish is medium long, fruity, earthy, floral with light oak. This is decent stuff if not on the light side. Nice orchard fruits on the palate, but a tad bitter (I’ve had much worse though). At $55 it’s a reasonable price for a 12 year old, but for a middle of the road malt I think is rather spend my money elsewhere. 3.25 and thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample. Cheers

Another work week closes out and allows me some time to pull from the backlog of whisky from our little touring group. This sample provided extremely generous @PBMichiganWolverine. A nosing starts off floral, light with a touch of sweetness. Honeysuckle, vanilla confectionery frosting. These are contained of encased with a toasted oak. As it opens, bourbon qualities are revealed. Brown sugar, cinnamon, cardboard, apricots. A rather busy, bright and inviting nose. A draw on the palate and the mind is thrown into confusion as the flavors do not reveal anything similar to the nose. Spicy and bitter initially of cinnamon and ginger root with orange rind. A trace amount of brown sugary sweetness. An earthy base supports the spicy bitterness: Tobacco leaves, potato skins with a mineral note. The body is slightly oily and slightly thick. The palate remains bitter with some oaky dryness for a length of time. An easily enjoyable dram that opens well and draws you in. A nose with a variety of aromas reminiscent of warm spring days. The palate throws you for a loop and a wealth of flavors it lacks. A good sipper, but nothing that is memorable or something I would actively seek out. One outstanding question: I understand the flora, but what comprises the fauna? [83/100][Tasted: 9/14/18]

This is my second Mannochmore, and i was super interested in trying another expression from this distillery, specially since the one i already had, the "Ghost of Clanyard Bay", was really a wonderful whisky. The Flora & Fauna collection is very famous in the world of whisky, but i never thought of it as a group of single malts that surprised me. Actually, none of the expressions from Flora & Fauna was memorable. Le'ts see if this one makes the difference. On the nose it is absolutely incredible. Melon, watermelon juice, it has a note that took me to the fruit aisle of a supermarket. A really amazing malted barley aroma. Peach peel. Very clean aroma; floral. On the palate, the fruitiness was there. Peaches, Ferrero Rocher chocolate; hazelnut. It is like a red fruit water, blueberries. Aftertaste is a complete waste. Dry, muted finish. There is nothing here. It feels like you did not drink anything. Disaster. Overall, the word to describe it, is "unbalanced". Incredible nose, average palate, non-existing finish. A complete dissapointment, specially after a very good nose; my score for this chaos is 62 over 100.

Nose: almost imperceptible, only alcohol can be felt without any further flavor. Palate: slightly oily, sweetish with honey and vanilla, with a hint of spiciness that remains on the tongue. Not unpleasant, but absolutely characterless. Final: short that leaves that famous spicy tip on the tongue. A whisky that I find insignificant, apparently aged in virgin oak, seems to have 20% ... Rating 2.75 ______________________________________________________________________ Naso: quasi impercettibile, si sente solo l’alcool senza alcun sapore ulteriore. Palato: leggermente oleoso, dolciastro al miele ed alla vaniglia, con una punta di piccante che rimane sulla lingua. Un guato non spiacevole, ma assolutamente senza carattere. Finale: breve che lascia quella famosa punta di piccante sulla lingua. Whisky che personalmente trovo insignificante, pare invecchiato in virgin oak, sembra avere 20%… Voto 2,75