Description
Cask 55.95 A bowl of trail mix and a glass of malbec
We were welcomed by the scent of oven-roasted butternut squash and apple seasoned with cinnamon and sage. The taste was that of a grape and walnut frangipane tart with a thick rosemary crust. After reduction we had a bowl of trail mix consisting of granola, dried fruits, nuts and Edinburgh rock. On the palate the malbec turned into two famous fortified wines, madeira and marsala. Following nine years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a 1st fill American oak PX hogshead.
Cask 95.105 Into the carpenter’s kitchen
Watching as a distinguished carpenter sprinkled lavender flowers over an apple turnover, we noticed a platter of honeycomb chunks topped with vanilla pods. To taste, we were gifted the texture of runny honey, with flavours of blancmange and freeze-dried strawberries. Water warms the dram. Oven-fresh apple strudel, baked orange and vanilla ice cream with mace and dark cherry jam delighted the nose, while the palate was Belgian fries, truffle mayo and oregano. It had a dry finish. After 11 years in an ex-bourbon barrel, we transferred this to a first fill, heavily toasted, medium charred barrel for the remainder of its maturation.
Cask 52.47 Juggle lemons on the beach
We Panellists showed o our circus skills, juggling aromas in the air as waxed lemons, fragrant peaches and white chocolate chunks exchanged places. Water guided the oils towards crushed walnuts and linseeds, trickling over honeysuckle petals and tangerine sponge on a sweet shortbread base. A suggestion of wood sap arrived with a scattering of green twigs, and the remnants of an old spice cupboard, before the finish embraced soft caramel and a hint of salty seaside with crushed seashells.
Cask 121.113 Immersive beachside buffet
We emptied the ash pan while extinguishing our fire’s dying embers with sweet birch water. The nose was warming, with notes of freshly milled timber and new carpet. Water added sweet salinity to the nose, as though we’d pulled off a neoprene wetsuit while being handed a sprig of dill and a chunk of honeycomb. We could now taste less fruit, with the attention shifting to mint and cinnamon, sesame, lemon thyme and cold-smoked green apple.
Cask 10.270 Vinegar three ways
This one displayed an immediate and vivid crystalline smokiness! Very thick, fat and – given time – increasingly vegetal, earthy and peppery. We all agreed this was big, hearty, heavy-style Islay peat. We also noted tar, malt vinegar and lashings of mercurochrome. With water we got citrus juices, punchy beach bonfire smoke and a very pronounced coastal note that involved seawater, shucked oysters and cornichons in brine. When neat, the palate was absolutely strewn with pickling brine, spirit vinegar and salty chip oil.
