Brave New Spirits tasting
28 April 2024
Some 12 single cask whiskies were provided by BNS, out of which a selection of 9 was made for this private tasting by the Cask Selectors. The knowledge of these being bottles no longer available on the market and having received already quite some acclaim elsewhere, clearly set some expectations for the evening.
We started the evening with some 15 cask selectors around the table, and although we lost some persons before the end (the late hour & the need to drive home safely did have an impact), we succeeded in tasting & commenting all presented bottles.
The selection of the evening and some brief notes:
- Dailuane 11y 1st fill bourbon hogshead - The Rise of the Badger Clan: lots of sweetness & citrus in the nose, then some spiciness and slight smokiness, with a long warming finish - alas, being first in a line-up like this often means people are waiting on what the next bottles will be - rated 1 star
- Benrinnes 2010 on 1st fill Pauillac red wine barrique (Yellow edition): although most would have thought this to be a sherry cask or maybe even some port wine cask, the slight red color should have given away this was a wine cask - in the nose some sweetness and red fruit, then some slight peat, spices and wood in the mouth with a very pleasant chocolat finish - also 1 star
- Port Dundas 16y 1st fill Lafite red wine cask - The Ghost of the Canal: closed distillery, but more importantly, one hell of a whisky, with some smokiness and even oiliness to start with, a slightly dirty taste with lots of sweetness and red berries, wood clearly present but never overwhelming and a long finish - 2 stars for this one
- Inchfad 17y 1st fill merlot barrique - Secrets of Bonnie Banks: yes another red wine finish, this time from the Loch Lomond group, nicely peated but still in balance with the red fruit left from the wines, in the mouth a more subtle mix of smoke and forest fruit, with some pepper in the finish - definitely also a 2 stars for this one
- Caol Ila 2010 1st fill Chateau Lafite (Yellow edition): very distinctly Caol Ila in the nose, with lots of dark fruit to contrast, in the mouth first some sweetness then morphing towards the smoke and oiliness of dried fruit, warming finish but not overpowering - 2 stars
- Dalrymple 11y sherry butt - Ailsa & The Secret Torcy Twin: someone truly loves their wood on this one, this Lowlands whisky packs a punch but most of it is wood, but underlying we found dried fruits, some chocolate and even some vanilla, with lots of spices in the finish - 1 star, although it had some fervent admirers
- Linkwood 12y 1st fill oloroso sherry (Yellow edition): most persons thought we had gone back to the red wine finishes, but this is definitely a sherry finish - uniformily found to be a top product, perfectly balanced between dried fruits, spices, intense heat, some depth of spirit - 3 stars for sure
- MacDuff 10y 1st fill PX hogshead - The Thane of Fife: dark coloured with lots of fruit, wood and spices in the nose, in the mouth some nuts & herbs were thrown into the mix, a more subtle finish where spices dominated - 2 stars
- Caol Ila 12y - Hector's Sound of Islay: the connaisseurs could not be fooled, although Laggavulin & Ledaig were mentioned, Caol Ila it was - simply bourbon, yet people found notes of nuts & dried fruits associated to a sherry finish - in the end, 3 stars was more than justified