Exclusively Bottled for The Whisky Trail
The first in a series of blind samples from my good friend DramALife. A test of our palates and just a fun exchange because who doesn’t love blinds! After a few weeks of discussion, we decided to send each other 5 samples. No info known heading into the tasting except mine were all Scotch and Almos’ were all American Whiskies.
You can follow along with our reviews on Instagram (DramALife and RyeAmLegend) as well as on either of our websites (DramALife and RyeAmLegend).
Distillery: Undisclosed Speyside Distillery.
Bottler: Berry Bros & Rudd.
Region/style: Speyside.
ABV: 54.6%.
Age: 23 years.
Cask type: Sherry.
Color: 1.4 Tawny.
Tasting Notes
Tasted neat in a Glencairn with 20+ minutes of rest. Dilution was added for the second half of the tasting with an additional rest of upwards of an hour. These notes are presented from a blind sample. No info known.
Nose: A funky sherry kind of dram that leans into the earthy notes. Dark cocoa powder and toasted pecans. Very dark and rich wine esters remind me of caramelized figs and candied date bars. As I was letting my glass sit and open up, a vegetal aroma began to pop up. Bagged kale, heirloom tomatoes, and a sour, fermented note like Kimchi. After this brief plant-based deviation more of the fruits came back. Overripe pineapple, grapefruit peels, and red table grapes. There’s a dull, stale smoky tobacco sitting in the background along with some wet, mushroom-covered firewood. When diluted just a touch, a bright, much-needed citrus acidity comes out. There’s more oak but less of that decaying nature. I almost wanted to point out the antisceptic quality on the nose initially but now it’s far more evident. Finally, along with that citrus is a brighter, caramelized pineapple upside-down cake. Bit more pleasant to the nose with some water.
Palate: With just my first sip, I fell in love with this whisky. Fruity tobacco and flat cola flavors. It reminded me of a simple 1 in 1 cocktail, Fernet and Coke. Armagnac-esc with some copper and leather. Burnt matches reinforce the smoke note I got on the nose. The vegetal note from the nose is now more herbal with cilantro, sage, and thyme. Water brought a sweet orange liqueur flavor like an orange creamsicle. I’m thinking this is an oloroso cask as there’s a funky salt-rimmed cocktail flavor. Not quite a meaty salinity but a dose of saline in a cocktail to elevate the flavors.
Finish: The finish started to let me down with the dry nature of the cask. Cotton swabs and clean, iodine-like flavor leaning back into the vegetal senses. Still a light smoky nature to this whisky as well. Very dry wine-soaked oak staves. Adding water, however, does something magical. Vibrant fruits with raisins and cinnamon. Date balls with coconut and almond flour. Burnt sugars as my mind goes back to that grilled, caramelized pineapple note. The smoke is still faint but I swear it’s there. It presents not really as peat but more like wood charcoal. Water also further pushes the dry tannic finish. Very reminiscent of cotton swabs when getting dental work done.
Overall
A funky and fun dram!
My initial guess might have been Kilkerran, but the smoke was more fainter than even a Highland Park. It’s almost like this was finished in a peated Oloroso cask or perhaps a heavily charred barrel. My mind was set on Oloroso from the notes I was getting, but the distillery still alluded me. Scotch blinds are tough!
Going through my shelf I landed on a younger, sherried Aultmore. It was the closest guess I had and nearly every Aultmore I’ve had, brings a funk that isn’t just from the cask. It had that bit of malty fermented note and also funky, earthy Oloroso. I wasn’t specifically guessing Speyside but what a surprise when I revealed this bottle!
Had the finish not been so intensely drying, I might have enjoyed a fair bit more. A wonderful dram that I’m thankful was shared with me. A high bar for the rest of the blinds!
Final Score: 89