Magnum Series #3 Hampden LROK

Whiskyfun"LROK is a lighter marque, between 200 and 400 gr ester/HLPA. But let me insist, there’s even less logic or consistency in these ester gradings than in the positions of a member of the long-declining French Socialist Party. Proper museum pieces, those. As our hero Coluche once put it, give them the Sahara and six months later they’re ordering sand. Right, moving on… Colour: gold. Nose: let’s be honest, this is much fruitier (banana and honey cake) and probably more complex and, above all, more elegant than the higher ester marques, though it’s by no means lacking in esters, varnish, petrol or even tar. With water: peach purée à la Bellini appears, even some mashed strawberries. Mouth (neat): low-ester, you say? Well, indeed, it’s a touch lighter, less textured, fresher, fruitier, but we’ve basically just gone from 98-octane petrol to 95. With water: salt returns, along with pencil shavings. Finish: long, saline, well-balanced, with a character not unlike a good terroir-driven sauvignon blanc, which is, at best, five percent of the world’s sauvignon blanc output IMHO… Comments: I’ve a slight preference for the two previous ones, which were a little more spectacular, but not to the extent that this lovely little LROK deserves fewer points. Let’s say the others were 91+, this one’s 91-. Don’t worry, we’re neither Moody’s, nor Fitch, nor Standard & Poor’s. " - 91/100 point