Over to Tain for sherry hogshead that’s been matured for 17 years and has produced 198 bottles at 57.1%. Bottles still available for £89.95 from The Whisky Shop Dufftown.
Nose: Tunnock’s Milk Chocolate Tea Cakes – and possibly one of the manufacturer’s Caramel Logs thrown in for good measure. Gingerbread and rosehips join orange peels and macerated cherries, whilst szechuan chilli pepper sits with well-lacquered oak. Reduction reveals brass piping and toasted oak alongside cinnamon spiced redcurrants.
Taste: A silky texture on the arrival. Dark cherries sit atop a toffee sauce drizzled chocolate sponge cake (indulgent stuff). Dark sugars and walnut oils join steeped black tea and pepper whilst zesty orange provides a mid-palate life. Dilution offers creamy marshmallow alongside toffee and a chilli-driven oak kick.
Finish: Quite long with piquant spice fading into black and red berries.
Not a sherrybomb, but the focus is still firmly on the cask here. Whilst there’s some taut spicy oak throughout, it nevertheless sits rather well with both the Glen-orange-y distillate and the sherry influence which feels suitably decadent with its combination of confectionary, dark fruits and sugars. Those whose preferences head toward the sweeter and darker probably won’t be disappointed.
Review sample provided by Watt Whisky