From the ‘World Whiskies – Individual Cask’ series from Cadenheads. Confusingly called ‘whisky’ even though the liquid is from the US and a bourbon? Apparently, being called ‘whisky’ could be a subtle hint at this being from the home of George Dickel, Cascade Hollow distillery in Tullahoma.
Appearance: Dark auburn, caramel. A nice sticky swirl mark, with plenty of medium trails forming uniformly around the glass. A pretty oozy thick film persists too.
Nose: Plenty of oak notes, expressed orange peel, caramel and cherry coke. A decent amount of ethanol is present, a nice ‘kick’ to start proceedings with this ‘whisky’. Once I acclimatise slightly there are sweeter, dark brown sugar notes, mixed nut chocolate and baking spices. It’s a bold nose and, for me, that’s a real positive.
Palate: A pleasing semi-viscous mouthfeel and an immediate ‘Kentucky hug’ greets the palate and chest respectively. The sweet and spice notes are immediately noticeable, followed by the oak and orange. There are also fresh pine needles and chocolate caramel notes swirling around on the palate. Very nice so far!
The flavours are fairly acute like they’ve all been boiled down and condensed into syrup, again, bold.
Finish: Medium in length. Chocolate, orange, sweet spiced nuts and caramel. The warming also lingers nicely in the chest and throat.
Overall: Pretty damn nice! I love the no-nonsense flavour profile and balance of ABV. The growing sweetness is also very pleasant.
