I was lucky enough to be gifted a bottle of the ‘05 MacRae from my brother about 2 weeks ago and got around to drinking it the other evening. This has been aged for approximately 18 months at this point and the time has done it good.

The brew poured its famous brown with a small head that did not retain for any extended time. The rich malt smell invited me in with a slightly different aroma than MacRae’s of the past. I think this is mostly the peated malts at work.

The flavor was a sweet malt taste, as expected and enjoyed with a lingering aftertaste. I let Catherine take a taste to try and place this mysteries flavor. The best description between the two of us was smoke and band-aids. Yes - Band-Aids. I know, not an appealing description and the aftertaste was odd, not necessarily bad but odd.

I think this has aged well and it is still at the top of my list of Fool Circle brews. I always look forward to the annual vintage, as others do as well. If Brian ever gets to brew commercially ( I am financially backing the whole thing if I can just find that damn powerball ticket), this would be on my “you have gotta brew this!” list.