April 2024 Tasting Pack
Distillery: Royal Brackla.
Region: Nairn, Scotland, UK.
ABV: 52.3%.
Age: 14 Years.
Cask type: Pinot Noir Hogshead Finish (since August 2019).
Price: £70 (~£5 for 2cl in the sample pack).
Color: 1.4 Tawny. Natural Color. No chill filtration.
Tasting Notes
Tasted neat in a Glencairn with 15+ minutes of rest. These tasting notes are only my first impressions leading to my purchasing decisions.
Nose: White grapes and expected wine esters. Almost a sour or lactic note to the nose. Citric, like a dehydrated orange or calcium tablets. Buttered yeast rolls and honey-glazed biscuits. Ginger, clove, and cinnamon baking spices.
Palate: Sharp astringency with some old, wine-soaked oak staves. Earthy root vegetables. Yucca and potato skins. Cinnamon again on the palate with a tinge of anise possibly. Metallic flavors with some copper and tin – think a whisky ginger, in a copper glass.
Finish: Odd finish with medicinal fruits and minerals. “Berry” flavored herbal throat lozenge. Pleasant tobacco and leather notes. Unpleasant paper and paste wax flavors. Dry and chalky finish, like drinking flat mineral water.
Overall
It has its ups and downs, but the negative qualities outweigh the positives. The nose was incredibly inviting and intoxicating. The palate, however, was anything but. Far more tannic and dry than I expected and ultimately not something I’d likely purchase a full bottle of.
Pass or Buy?: Pass.
1 Response
[…] the recent Pinot cask Brackla I reviewed last week, I feel as if this is a tendency for this type of cask. It starts wonderfully on the nose, then […]