Price: Can’t remember exactly. I think I paid around $250-$300 AUD.
Purchased From: Online Auction
ABV: 54.6%
‘Flapping Sail and Ship’s Timbers’ is a 16-year-old from distillery 52, released in 2014. Full maturation in a refill ex-Bourbon hogshead with a total of 269 bottles. This bottling is a first for me, in that it was released before I joined SMWS; I picked it up in an online auction a few years ago. I’ve forgotten to note down what I paid for it at the time and after searching online I struggled to find the price when it was released.
Society 52s are one of those codes I’ll buy every time when they’re available. I try not to code hunt usually, but this distillery gets me every time. I think it’s more so because the quality of the official releases from this coastal distillery has declined over the years and the independent bottlings remind me how amazing it is.
Nose
You can tell this is distillery 52; you’d have no problem picking this in a blind tasting. Salty, briny, gentle sweetness with some vanilla coming through also.
Taste
The sweetness comes through first: vanilla, barley sugar, coconut, lemon peel. It’s then followed by that lovely coastal profile: olive oil and sea salt. It’s quite mineralic on the finish, which also has some gentle spice.
Conclusion
A 52 of old – I’m glad I secured this one; it reminds me of what this distillery used to be like. It’s lucky we have the independents to provide us with these blasts from the past. The taste took you through a rollercoaster of flavours; a drop of water also opened it up nicely.