Tasting: VAT 69 Vintage Austrian Import bottle

vat_69_vintageDram data:

Distillery: Blend
Bottler: WM Sanderson & Son Ltd
Distilled: –
Bottled: 1980s? 1990s?
Age: – (probably 3 years)
Limitation: unknown
Price at the time of purchasing: –
Casks: –
Alcohol: doesn’t say! Most likely 40%

Tasting notes:
Colour: Well, E150a reddish-gold. On the nose I get quite a sharp alcoholic first impression with a bit of old glue mixed in. Rubber duck, kitchen spices (basil and wood garlic), lime juice, hints of oranges, old raisins and wood polish. It does improve though as time passes. On the palate it is much milder than on the nose, more noticeable grain sweetness. Some remnants of kitchen spices remain but the relatively nondescript sweetness dominates. Slightly (in a positive way) bitter and the noticeable metallic notes reveal the young age of the spirit (Dare I say 3 years + 1 day?). Quite pleasant, though. The finish shows more pleasant sweetness with slight bitter bynotes and is medium long

Verdict:

This bottle was sourced by my brother. It is probably around 20 years old (or maybe even older) and has been opened for god knows how long. I don’t think it has degraded much, though since the nose is initially quite punchy and sharp and it doesn’t show the usual signs of oxidation, probably due to the tight screw-top. It was imported by Wewalka in Vienna for the Austrian market. While the nose is a bit off-putting at first it does mellow down considerably and turns out to be quite a drinkable standard blend with its own interesting character. I sadly have no comparison to the VAT69 bottlings offered today but this has been a great insight into the standard blends offered a few decades ago.

Score:
72/100 (my brother says 76/100)

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