4.395 Red wine and brine in the old coal mine

Description

Remarkable. Just, absolutely remarkable. Not only is this a sherried whisky from the member-favourite Distillery 4 with some great age on it, but it was matured in an ex-Bodega Oloroso hogshead. How does that differ from a regular sherry oloroso cask, you might ask? Typically, for the last few decades, casks have been “seasoned” with sherry for anywhere between 6 – 18 months before shipping them off to keep up with the demand of the whisky industry. However, in this case, an ex-bodega sherry cask has been used, meaning a cask that has actually been maturing sherry for very well over 100 years. It imparts a different type of sweetness that those who are drinking modern sherried whiskies may not be used to, a lot gentler and complex, less in your face. A bit of a winner this month, and somewhat of an infrequent feature to see a sherried whisky fall into the Oily & Coastal flavour profile.

Sand and seashells crunched beneath our feet as we stepped into the darkness. Wafts of heather smoke billowed from deep below, bringing aromas of grilled pork chops, oregano and samphire sautéed in salted butter. Our faces were blackened with cocoa powder and coal dust A dash of water released walnuts infused in rich sherry, and scatterings of orange peel on smoked salmon canapés. Our mouths were coated with a sticky mix of chimney soot and honey by the time we discovered smoked bacon, glazed sausages and praline-filled barnacle shells. At 19 years of age, we combined selected casks from the same distillery. We then returned the single malt into a variety of different casks to develop further. This is one of those casks.