The Malt Cask

Probably one of my favourite collaboration today, linking Islay whisky with Aston Martin. And this is courtesy of the Bowmore team, who sent me the bottle for free! I have had a mixed experience with Bowmore and I put this down to one main key factor, the presentation of the whisky. Not the box and label, but the abv and filtration. The standard bottles released at low abv (40%) have not really been that great, butI have really loved the 48%+ releases. Now this 10 year-old is part of a new Travel Retail range that Bowmore have released in conjunction with Aston Martin. You’ll find a 10, 15 and 18 year-old, The 10 years old is aged in a mix of sherry cask and bourbon casks (40%), the 15 in first-fill bourbon casks (43%) and the 18 in a mix of Oloroso and PX casks (43%). The whisky has also probably been coloured and chill-filtered. So let's get stuck in and see what this one is like... My tasting notes Nose: Sweet and smoky, dried fruit, ash, smoke, tropical notes, mango, caramel,

  Picture courtesy of  www.whiskyshop.com Distillery : Glen Scotia Bottler : Distillery for Callander Drinks Age : 11 years old Distilled : 03/2010 Bottled : 04/2021 Cask : Ex-bourbon finished in 1st fill PX Abv : 52.9% Unchillfiltered : Yes Natural Colour : Yes Nb of bottles : 292 Extra : Bottled by Callander Drinks My tasting notes Nose: PX hits you first, dark, rich, treacle, dried fruit, old oak, slight salted caramel, hints of smoke, cinnamon spice, pain d'épices. There is also a faint balsamic vinegar side to it. What a start!  Palate: Sweet and sticky, sticky toffee pudding, dates, molasses, brown sugar, christmas cake, treacle, rich caramel, not as spicy as I was expecting, prunes, nuts, a touch of salt and smoke. Super rich and decadent, like a boozy PX! And how is this 52.9%?! Finish: Mouth coating sweetness (like the PX itself) hints of earthy peat appear amongst the decadent richness, dark dried fruit, walnut, oak. What a dram! With water: Slightly fresher nose with

TheMaltCask on Instagram After the Macallan edition 6 and the Yamazaki 12 from the 1980’s, @mark_littler_ltd is sharing the Bimber King’s Cross St Pancras from their Spirit of the Underground series. As with the previous bottles, this one is going to go on a little journey to meet many whisky reviewers. It’s already stopped @swedishwhiskygirl @nononsensewhisky and @thisiswhiskywednesday so make sure to check their take on this bottle! Now let’s focus on this incredibly tall bottle from London’s Bimber distillery. I discovered Bimber through samples sent by the distillery about 2 years ago. Nobody had heard about them but I thoroughly enjoyed these 3 year-old whiskies, with the virgin oak being my favourite. Fast forward 2 years, Bimber’s popularity has exploded, bottles sell out in no time and I’ve still not managed to pick one up. Their latest releases are based on London Tube stations with 4 already out. So far they’re all ex-bourbon single casks. This one was bottled in May 2021 at

Picture courtesy of  www.thewhiskyexchange.com   Distillery : Edradour Bottler : Distillery for The Whisky Exchange Age : 14 years old Distilled : 2005 Bottled : May 2020 Cask : 2nd fill sherry hogshead Abv : 58.8% Unchillfiltered : Yes Natural Colour : Yes Nb of bottles : 296 Extra : Bottled under the Ballechin name (peated Edradour) My tasting notes Nose:  Sweet and ashy, herby notes too, dark fruit (blackberry and blackcurrant) dried fruit (raisins), slight tar, hints of coriander and mint, dried oak and some dark chocolate. Palate:  Not as sweet as I was expecting. Some sweetness and fruity notes but also quite green and herby with some mint and eucalyptus. Cold bonfire. Finish:  Quite drying, oak, cherry, slight acrid smoke and cough sweets. With water:  The nose is fresher and mintier. It loses some of the rich ashy and tarry notes. The palate is slightly sweeter and spicier but I feel the flavours are not quite as well balanced. The finish is slightly spicier too with a little m

Photo courtesy of  www.masterofmalt.com Distillery : Tobermory Bottler : Distillery Age : 12 years old Distilled : n/a Bottled : 2017 Cask : Bourbon with a Manzanilla cask finish Abv : 46.3% Unchillfiltered : Yes Natural Colour : Yes Nb of bottles : n/a Extra : n/a My tasting notes Nose:  Slight 'dirty sherry' notes (sulfur?), raisins, vanilla, some maritime notes as well (sea breeze), walnuts, caramel, milk chocolate and a slight earthiness. Palate:  A wave of thick milk chocolate first before dried fruit, fresh orange, oak spice, walnuts again and hints of sourdough. Finish:  Tinned peaches, nuts, muscovado sugar, slight peanut butter, still a bit of sulphur throughout, chocolate raisins. With water:  The nose is slightly less 'funky' with more citrus and toffe notes. The palate and finish are both flatter though with a bit more honey sweetness and hints of fennel. Overall, a decent Tobermory but far from the best I've had from the distillery... Slàinte all!

 Time to get back into some of the samples I have in stock! Photo courtesy of  www.masterofmalt.com Distillery : Bunnahabhain Bottler : Adelphi (Liddesdale) Age : 21 years old Distilled : n/a Bottled : n/a Cask : Mix of Bourbon and Sherry Hogsheads Abv : 46% Unchillfiltered : Yes Natural Colour : Yes Nb of bottles : 1011 Extra : This is batch 10  My tasting notes Nose: Fresh, fruity. yellow fruit, melon, apricot, peach, some fresh oak too, acacia honey, slight confectionary and floral notes, lemon and orange blossom. Great start! Palate:  Barley sweetness, fresh fruit, a little spice and grapefruit bitterness, still some honey and slight nuttiness. Finish: Mix of honey, nuts, grapefruit and slightly drying oak spice. Lingering nicely! With water: The nose is even fruitier, the palate is sweeter with more honey and the finish is a little spicier but less bitter. What a delicious dram! Definitely one to add to my auction wacthlist! Slàinte all!