I’ve been looking forward to doing this tasting formally for a long time. The 1987 Marolo was a life-changing spirit for me, really my introduction so the greatness that pomace brandy is capable of and still my favorite that I’ve tasted. All of these are made exclusively from Barolo pomace.

Marolo 9 Year (50%)

N: piney wood pulp, rye bread dough, hay, white pepper, rustic orchard fruit and yellow mango. Returning to this one after the rest of the flight it comes off sweeter, more on mango and vanilla, basically cake batter

P: so good. Enters with white peppery intensity, then pie crust, rye bread, pine needles, white flowers, lighter summery fruits but almost some cherry pits too or almond, walnut, a whiff of vanilla frosting

92

Marolo 12 Year (50%)

N: similar but heavier on aromatic spice, cedar more than pine, the bread is a few minutes further into baking and a crust has almost formed, Bosc pear. Gains some cinnamon stick with air

P: not as forward or complex as the 9 year, but still very, very good. A lot more spicy rye than the nose suggested, and fully crusted bread, pine has returned. Finishes fresh and even minty, with traces of that sweeter, younger batter

89

Marolo 15 Year (50%)

N: the bread is a cupcake now and its frosting is flecked with orange. But still sappy green wood, cumin and fennel seed and fennel pollen, and hell maybe some fresh fennel bulb too, orange blossom

P: enormous sweet orange zest, raw shaved fennel, prickly pear, spicy white peppercorn, and yes a more delicate cupcakey side too, though it no longer feels like dough or batter. A bit sweeter than the two younger ones. All of these have good length but rather distinctive finishes; this is maybe the longest so far and has prickly spice that lingers and lingers and eventually suggest greenish raw wood

91

Marolo 20 Year (50%)

N: the 9 and the 12 share a basic resemblance, and this 20 has the same with the 15. The citrus and spices are a shade darker and deeper and less fresh, the bread is almost Pumpernickel, there’s a bit of chocolate frosting. Toasted cumin, toasted rye

P: definitely a darker and deeper (and sweeter) version of the 15 year. We’re almost in first fill malt territory with the sweet barrel here, though very light tannins. Pecan pie, let’s say, hinting at spice and vanilla and chocolate with latching on to any of them, but also totally balanced by darker, toasted aromatic spice (cumin and fennel seeds, ajwain if you want to get creative with it). If there’s one complaint it’s that this finishes rather quicker and evolves less than any of the younger ones, but whatever…this is excellent. Easily the most malt-adjacent, though still unambiguously Marolo

90

Marolo 27 Year 1987 (50%)

N: everything that was accumulating in all the other expressions just explodes here. The proof is the same, but the aromatic intensity breaks the charts. All the breads with all the most aromatic grains, all the toasted aromatic spices, all the scents of an evergreen forest, beautiful citrus and green apple, fainter hints of vanilla, lightly toasted nuts (showing its age less than the 20 year, somehow)…just glorious, and so expansive it contains a universe.

P: the intensity—of citrus and green apple, mint and fennel and every variety of aromatic seed, chocolate and vanilla, fresh baked bread—is just unbelievable. Outrageously fresh, infinitely complex, unendingly deep. And with all that intensity, also feels light on the palate. And then we have caramel and nuts and a creaking evergreen forest on the finish. Truly one of the great spirits I’ve had, and my favorite bottle I own, at least of those I’ve tasted

95