The Malt Cask

  2 more to go with Claxton's Spirits and next up from The Dalswinton’s Series second edition is this the oldest release, a 35 year-old Highland Park! It was distilled in 1988, aged in an Oloroso sherry cask and bottled at 43.2%. Distillery:  Highland Park Bottler:  Claxton's Age:  35 years old Distilled:  22/06/1988 Bottled:  2024 Cask:  Oloroso Sherry cask Abv:  43.2% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:   Price:  £ Extra:  Part of the Dalswinton Series - Second Edition My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is fruity and creamy, yellow peaches, melon, vanilla cream, some HP heather notes, tame oak spice stewed apples, some milk/white chocolate and pear, honey, hints of cedar wood ! Palate:  The palate is malty and chocolaty first with lots of juicy sultanas, fresh tangerines, some mixed spice, runny caramel, crème brûlée, milk chocolate, black grape juice, blackberry jelly. Some oak spice appears on the mid to late palate and runs through the finish. This is

  Still with Claxton's Spirits and next up from The Dalswinton’s Series second edition is this 30 year-old Springbank! It was distilled in 1993, aged in a Hogshead and bottled at 44.5%. Distillery:  Springbank Bottler:  Claxton's Age:  30 years old Distilled:  28/05/1993 Bottled:  2024 Cask:  Hogshead Abv:  44.5% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:   Price:  £ Extra:  Part of the Dalswinton Series - Second Edition My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is fresh and citrusy, green apples and pears, citrus zest, hints of mint, floral honey, orange marmalade with a sprinkle of cinnamon, salty coastal breeze, some oak spice. Underneath it all there are some industrial oily notes but they’re very well integrated. Wow…! Palate:  The palate is oily and quite sweet with some salted caramel mixed with biscuits and citrus fruit again (orange, tangerine) before dried oak, spices and slight industrial notes come to play. There are some wax elements as well as some subtle p

  After Clynelish 30, let’s have a look at the Bunnahabhain 33 years old from The Dalswinton’s Series second edition from the folks at Claxton's Spirits. This Bunnahabhain was distilled in 1990, aged in an Oloroso sherry cask and bottled at 48.6%. Distillery:  Bunnahabhain Bottler:  Claxton's Age:  33 years old Distilled:  24/10/1990 Bottled:  2024 Cask:  Oloroso Sherry cask Abv:  48.6% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:   Price:  £ Extra:  Part of the Dalswinton Series - Second Edition My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is warming and luxurious, leather, chocolate, tobacco leaves, slight wood char, prunes and hazelnuts, brown sugar and a hint of citrus. Palate:  The palate is oily, thick and mouth coating, it’s rich and chewy, with a moreish mix of oak spice, dried fruit (raisins, figs) dark chocolate and more leather. What a dram! Finish:  The finish is long and quite drying with some oak spice, liquorice, nuts, bitter orange and hints of candied ginger,

  The Dalswinton’s Series second edition is now out from the folks at Claxton's Spirits and it comprises of 5 stunning well-aged single malts from renowned distilleries: Clynelish, Bunnahabhain, Bowmore, Highland Park and Springbank! So let’s go with the first review and I went for their Clynelish 30 years old from 1993, aged in a bourbon barrel and bottled at 44.4% Distillery:  Clynelish Bottler:  Claxton's Age:  30 years old Distilled:  20/10/1993 Bottled:  2024 Cask:  Bourbon Barrel Abv:  44.4% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:   Price:  £ Extra:  Part of the Dalswinton Series - Second Edition My tasting notes: Nose:  The nose is  gently sweet, fruity and floral with notes of jasmin, orange blossom, lemon zest, crème anglaise and fresh vanilla pods. Palate:  The palate is definitely Clynelish with some fruity, waxy elements, there is some oak notes, white peach and underripe apple, there’s also some mineral notes and a little fizz on the late palate (

One dram left in the bottle and I’ve finally managed to write up notes for this one! Bottled by North Star, this 31 years old blended malt is said to potentially contain quite a bit of Clynelish… It was very affordable (I paid around £80 on offer in 2020) and I am very glad I have a back up bottle! Distillery:  Blended Malt Bottler:  North Star Spirits Age:  31 years old Distilled:  1988 Bottled:  2019 Cask:  First fill Bourbon barrels Abv:  43.1% Unchillfiltered:  Yes Natural Colour:  Yes Nb of bottles:  3582 Price:  £110 Extra:  Part of the Cask Series 009 My tasting notes: Nose: Waxy, citrus, lemon, honey, fruity, some oak, wood varnish, hints of orange, vanilla, a little bitterness, some pine notes, barley sugar, fresh barley, crème caramel, sponge cake, tangerine, cardamon. Loving it! Palate: Rich & chewy, honey, chocolate, citrus (grapefruit, bitter orange), oak spice , peach, milk, orange blossom, almond, orgeat syrup, creamy, hints of dried oak, stewed peach & apricot

Today brings a sample of Westward American single malt, from @theheartcut a relatively new independent bottler on the whisky scene. The couple behind The Heart Cut are definitely no whisky newbies though (Georgie Belle-Leoni & Fabrizio Leoni) and they have been collaborating with distilleries across the world to release one-off single cask and small-batch bottlings. From Danish single malt to Israeli to English to American, their releases definitely take you on a world tour of amazing liquid! This one is their latest release, a 5 year-old Westward single malt from Portland, distilled 22-03-2018, aged in new American oak and bottled 08-08-2023 at 50%. As far as the cask is concerned, the website gives you an insight in why they chose it: “THIS MADE THE CUT BECAUSE The newly emerged American Single Malt Whiskey category is gaining momentum, and there’s one distillery we’ve had eyes on since the start. Hailing from the American Northwest, an area abundant with barley, Westward Whiskey