57,7°
Distillery : Dornoch - Highlands
1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Octave Cask
Original Bottling
Limited Edition
Single Cask
Bottled in 2023
Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength
Totally Unpeated
Phil and Simon Thompson had already opened an independent bottling company in 2013, but that wasn't enough for them. They needed their own distillery. This has now been achieved with Dornoch, named after the town where they live, where the first drops of whisky were distilled in 2017. They only produce 12,000 litres of alcohol a year, but what a spirit! Made from traditional organic barley and with what is believed to be the longest fermentation in Scotland (216 hours!), each Single Cask bottling is sold in very limited editions. This one, aged 4 years and 6 months, has been stored in an Octave cask of around 80 litres to speed up the ageing process. The barley used is Plummage Archer, which is very rare. Only 89 bottles were made during the slow production process.
Let's Taste It :
The influence of Bourbon can be felt, with an intense woodiness. Young and powerful, vanilla flan, custard, île flottante, some yellow fruits, notes of honey and banana. Intense cereals, like rye. Oak bark, slightly bitter caramel. On the palate, it's lighter, the young age is visible here, but it's very well done, balanced and quite full-bodied, the bourbon mellows out, almonds and marzipan, to let through some more typical notes, cola, peaches, courgette blossom, no doubt the rudiments of the distillery's identity. Dark bread, buckwheat pancakes. Robust finish, not quite long, sparkling and aniseed-flavoured, milk chocolate, pepper and salt.
In Short,
For its age, this is an excellent bottling. It's still a little young - I'd have given it 8 to 10 years - but it's nuanced and balanced, with a nice variety of flavours. The barley used gives an atypical flavour, and the finish is more than correct. It's just a little light on the palate, otherwise it could rival good Single Cask bottlings over 10 years old. The quality is truly impressive. On the other hand, the price is high, but that's justified by the rarity of the product and the high standards of the production process. You have to support an effort like this.
Score : 88
To Be Listened While Sipping :
The Barn Swallows - Born For This World
No comments:
Post a Comment