Habitation Velier Clarendon The Nectar MMW 2015

Bottle 170/308, tasted at SDR23. I liked it a lot

Oh man, this is a very delicious, balanced, harmonious Monymusk 🤤 Nose: light, but well notable esters, large fruit basket, medicinal and yoghurt note, classic notes from the barrel and baked apple 🤤 Mouth: esters, espresso, sweet candied fruits, baking spices and a lot of fruits Finish: Long and dry with wonderfull notes of honeycomb, barrel notes and black tea

An excellent monymusk for this young age! He comes along quite impetuous! He needs some time in the glass..but then he shows his potential!In the nose, first ester and young wood in unison...then come fruit notes of unripe pineapple and fermented passion fruit, everything seems very fresh and vinegar, even a hint of Maggi sets the scene at the very end!On the palate, initially a sweetness that very quickly leaves the playing field to young wood, overcooked espresso. The longer the rum lingers in the mouth dominates a peppery note ! The rum spreads creamy and intense on the palate.The finish is medium long, concentrated on burnt espresso and black tea!I like it and would have liked a bottle!

Interesting Monymusk, balanced and comfortable, in line with the expected characteristics of MMW, as well as ob'MLC is a recent excellent Monymusk.

Comparing two freshly opens bottles, the SC is very similar to the new HV 2015. A little more punch and notes of citrus fruits in this one. In contrast to the blended release (which looses over time), this one profits from some time to oxcidize, nicely. It becomes more round and complex, while retaining more punch than the blend.

Present and concentrated flavors without being too intrusive. The profile is not a classic monymusk profile. Very unobtrusive for a Jamaican. I like the roasty espresso notes and the passion fruit. Very good.

First time having a 2015 Clarendon in the glass. I’m a big proponent of this distillery, so let’s see where this goes. The nose is very ‘sweet and sour’. A daring balance of fruity sweetness, vinegar and a citrus blend I can’t seem to pinpoint. The cask takes a backseat, and comes in rather playful with subtle wood, cloves and baked apple. The experience is intersected by a musty undertone of camphor, and lively mint. Nicely -not overly- complex. Interestingly the palate, and the balancing of it, is quite different. Very sweet upfront, then counterbalanced with unripe pineapple and red berrymix. Musty leather and camphor notes unwind into a rich espresso finish. The finish is my only point of critism. It’s deliciously lavish with chocolatey espresso, slightly bitter, but very short.

Franconian Tasting Gang Compared to its competitor, it's not really worth the extra cost. My conclusion is that it can do a lot, but unfortunately its competitor is a lot cheaper. Thanks to DomM for providing both for comparison.

Really good for a monymusk. Good bottling

Big surprise... tasted against the "standard" MMW 2015 from HV ... and I almost like the simple one better. Much more mature and pleasant. This one has nicer fruit notes and a great nose, but overall I like the regular one with an extra year of aging better.

Schöner MMW, etwas reifer und ruppiger als der HV.

Sau beautiful monymusk. Passion fruit, mint, ginger and the right amount of wood.

in the other glass the Corman Collins 2004, both MMW Marque and around 60% ABV. The Velier was 6 years in the barrel, the CC against proud 16 years. This is also noticeable on the nose. The HV has lots of young wood, baked apple, vinegar and yogurt. The CC is much rounder with baking spice and toffee/nougat and in the background also something towards 'buttercup'. On the palate, however, I like the HV very much, a nice balance of spices and a subtle sweetness. In the CC, the barrel is yet very dominant.

Tastes a little young, but surprisingly fruity and not very astringent for a Clarendon. However, I don't quite like the gin note.

The smell is of white fruits, with pear, green apple... almost a bit eau-de-vie-ish. Esters are not very pronounced, has a slight sour/fermented (milk product) undertone. Mouth is in the same direction. A bit sharp from the alcohol. Finish barely clears the bar to medium long. Overall I expected more from a tropically aged single cask.