Masam (Samaroli) No Age Blended Malt Whisky Review!

A cask strength blended malt from the legendary Italian independent bottler Silvano Samaroli, although this was actually bottled by his wife under the 'Masam' brand, and you won't find the Samaroli name anywhere on the bottle. It's a little complicated...

Samaroli whiskies are basically the independent bottling equivalent of old Macallans. A "sexy" brand that is very expensive to start with and subsequently very overpriced on the secondary market, but generally quite highly regarded and extremely collectable amongst both the aficionados and the speculating collectors. Silvano Samaroli started the company in Rome in the late-1960s, initially as an importer and then morphing into an independent bottler towards the early 1980s - becoming the first independent bottler of Scotch whisky outside of Britain. Most bottlings were cask strength single casks, with a few small vattings thrown in, and bottlings of old whisky from legendary distilleries such as Springbank, Laphroaig and Macallan helping to cement the small operation's reputation. Silvano sold the company and the rights to the Samaroli brand back in 2008, although he was still consulting for the company that bore his name up until his death in 2017. The Samaroli company continues to bottle Scotch whisky, adding half a dozen blended malts and also a few rums to the line-up, but they're still a very expensive proposition. I'm not sure how the following prices are reflected in Europe, but for a couple of examples, the official Australian importer retails their NAS Samaroli 'Islay' blended malt, bottled at 43% ABV, for a whopping $350 AUD. How about a single cask of 10-11 year old Caol Ila bottled at 49%? That will be $810 AUD. Ah, I think I'll pass thanks! Samaroli's wife Maryse has kept Silvano's legacy going following his death, separately from the namesake company, by bottling his private stock under the 'Masam' (as in Maryse Samaroli) and 'Silvano's Collection' monikers. 

This Masam Silvano's Collection bottling is simply titled "No Age", as in no age statement, and Samaroli had no misgivings about that practice. This is also a blended malt (a.k.a. vatted malt) - also no misgivings there, and rightly so. There were a number of different batches released, some at 43% and 45% ABV, but only two have been bottled at cask strength. This is the 2020 Cask Strength bottling, vatted together in 2016 and bottled at 52.9% ABV in 2020, and it's non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Unlike many blended malts, this Masam bottling has no problem telling you which distilleries' whiskies are in the blend. But in this case, it is really one hell of a list! The youngest whisky in the vatting was distilled in 2004, and the oldest was distilled in 1957! There are close to 40 different component whiskies so I won't list them all, but the "wow factor" components include some 1957 Mortlach, 1959, 1962 & 1965 Springbanks, 1967 & 1970 Laphroaigs, 1974 & 1976 Ardbegs, 1981 Port Ellen, 1964 Bruichladdich, plus a couple of vintages of Longrow & Talisker, among many others. Now obviously with only 310 x 700ml bottles in the release there won't be a large amount of most of the those components in this blend, but some of those names & vintages are true bucket list whiskies, so they warrant a mention regardless of the actual volumes. This would have to be one of the rarest & most expensive blend "recipes" ever created! These whiskies were blended and vatted together under Silvano's watch only a year before his death, and they were left to marry together for approximately four years before bottling. Naturally this bottle of whisky wasn't exactly cheap, but it was quite reasonably priced considering the rarity. 

The sample for this review came from a fellow whisky nerd who was lucky to nab one of the few bottles that was directly imported into Australia by Melbourne's brilliant whisky bar Whisky & Alement, who have put together a very good online store since COVID started ravaging the hospitality industry well over 18 months ago now. They're getting their hands on a lot of rare stuff both for their store and also their online tastings where samples are sent out by mail. They've also launched their own importing arm under the label Indie Whisky Co, focussing on small independent bottling brands like Hidden Spirits, Hart Brothers, James Eadie and of course Masam, which had previously not had decent representation in Australia. Right, let's see how this Masam 'No Age' blended malt goes!

Masam Silvano's (Samaroli) Collection 'No Age' Blended Malt, NAS, 52.9%. Scotland. 

Cask strength blended malt, youngest whisky from 2004, oldest whisky from 1957. From Silvano Samaroli's private stocks. Vatted together in 2016 and bottled in 2020. 310 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Very complex and very "old school" - minimal cask influence. Menthol, old leather & dusty old libraries. Slight mineral salinity and dry pepper spice, some rich malt with crisp red apple behind. A little musty, earthy dunnage "funk", also a bit of alcoholic nip on the nostrils. 

Texture: Medium weight, spirit-led but also has a very mature "feel". Touch of heat, though. 

Taste: A lot of complexity here, very old school again and no overt cask influence. Rich malt, soft leather & black pepper which turns into a drying smoked green chilli spice. Touch of petrol. Salt flakes, and red apple again but it's more powdery here rather than crisp. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Slight salinity and softer pepperiness, malty again but it's drier here, more husky & grassy. Warming spice and that earthy, musty dunnage again - not quite Springbank-level, but it's there. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely complex and engaging "old school" whisky. It's a bit of a chameleon too, changing from austere, spicy & salty to rich & malty, and there's a definite Campbeltown & Skye feel to it, plus a good dash of old Highland. Plenty of depth and plenty of layers to pick through, and a clear lack of any overt cask influence. Which is no surprise given the provenance of the components in this blend, no need for casks to get involved! At least as far as "additive" maturation goes. If you'd told me this blend was an old Talisker or Campbeltown (Glen Scotia rather than Springbank?) I wouldn't argue, although there's a touch of spirit-y heat to it which is a little surprising. That doesn't take away from the character of this blend though. And as discussed above, it's simple economics & mathematics that the percentages of those old, legendary, bucket list malts in this blend couldn't be too high. But even if there's only a teaspoon of 1960s Springbank & Laphroaig, 1970s Ardbeg etc. in here, I'm not objecting!

Since this is my first in-depth look at a Samaroli / Masam whisky I can't personally testify to how this fits in with their "house style", but from what I've read it's almost exactly what I had expected. Plenty of complexity and 'subtractive' maturity, subtle or minimal cask influence with a very healthy dose of spirit/distillery character. And that's pretty much exactly what we mean when we talk about an "old school" malt whisky. 

Cheers!