The Malt Cask

Distillery: Benromach Bottler: Distillery Age: 11 years old Distilled: 2010 Bottled: 2021 Cask: 1st fill (Sherry and Bourbon) Abv: 58.5% Unchillfiltered: Yes Natural Colour: Yes Nb of bottles: 292 Extra: Batch 1 (bottling of 18 casks)  Distilled in 2010, aged in 18 first-fill hogshead casks (a mix of ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry I believe) bottled in 2021 at the natural cask strength of 58.5%, unchillfiltered and uncoloured. My tasting notes: Nose:  Fruity, earthy and spicy. Barley, vanilla, peat smoke, ripe figs, hints of clove and cinnamon, orange, some nuttiness and some dark chocolate. The alcohol is not overpowering and it definitely smells of a well-made whisky! Palate:  Rich, fruity and spicy. Dark fruits, stewed plums and blackberries mixed with black pepper and oak spice. Dunnage warehouse, apple and ginger crumble, spicy honey, slight bitter cocoa and orange pith. The earthy smoke has moved to the background. Finish:  Earthy, warming with wood smoke, ...

Vintage Bottlers ltd A look at a new indepedent bottler today, and we’re not looking at young cheap whisky here with Vintage Bottlers but only “the very best whisky Scotland has produced, past and present.” The first release -part of their Secret Series- is proof of it. It is a 30 year-old Highland single malt, aged in an ex-Sherry cask, bottled of course uncoloured, unchillfiltered and at the natural cask strength of 47.5% I know it’s supposed to be secret, but they still give us a clue with a set of coordinates, which take us straight to the Clynelish distillery…! As they’ve been kind enough to send me a sample, here are my notes: My tasting notes Nose:  Oaky, sweet, creamy, with straw, hazelnut chocolate cookies, marzipan, red apples, a little peach, almonds, desiccated coconut, slight sultanas, vanilla, hints of sandalwood and Madeira cake. What a start! Palate:  Citrus first on the palate before some oak spice, sultanas, salted caramel chocolate, stewed dark fruits, black...

No whisky today but some rum instead, courtesy of Jim from Outlaw Rum Company. He reached out to me a few weeks again and offered to send me some of the rum he releases. I am no rum expert but I feel like most new rum brands tend to focus on cocktails, spiced rums..., not that many on good quality sipping rums that could potentially compete with single malts, whcih is what Jim wants for his rums. So how is he doing that? Well, he selects some quality rum casks straight from Trinidad and Tobago (Angostura) and finishes their ageing in ex-whisky casks in his warehouse in Scotland. The result is a Flagship Blend bottling "aged Rum of minimum 3 years, but has a mix of 5, 7 and 10 year rum to give the richness and outstanding taste profile", as well as some Limited releases (single bourbon casks, ex-Islay casks...) Today, I can actually try and compare 3 of Outlaw's releases, the Flagship Blend, a Bourbon cask limited releases and the Islay batch 5 limited releases. So let...

Glenmorangie have just launched a new Travel Retail range. Three new bottles, three age statements, three types of maturation, all bottled at 43%. Even if it is not a distillerie I have expored much so far, I was very keen to get stuck in when I was offered to try them all! So let’s go and explore… The Accord 12 yo, 43% (bourbon & Oloroso casks) £59 Nose: Strawberry jam, oak, orange, cinnamon, milk chocolate, toffee, vanilla fudge Palate: Fruity, nutty, oak spice, raisins, milk chocolate, dried figs and dates Finish: Nutty, Oloroso, oak, cashew nuts, milk chocolate, cream, spice, Brazil nuts Destination: Winter in southern Spain! The Elementa 14yo, 43% (bourbon and new charred oak) £68 Nose: Fruity & sweet, peaches, lemon, vanilla, fresh, honey, apple, white grapes, cake icing Palate: Sweet honey, vanilla, oak spice, malted barley, green pear, fondant icing, butter cream, fresh wood, ginger, floral Finish: Spicy, sweet, barley, peach, creamy, soft caramel Destination: L...

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...

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 ...