Handcrafted in small batches using 100% locally grown, floor malted Cotswold barley. This expression showcases the influence of our first-fill ex-Bourbon casks. Whisky from STR ex-red wine casks has been blended in to enhance the richness, fruitiness and sweetness.
Appearance: Light. Between summer honey and fresh apple juice. Lovely and viscous. It coats the glass with an inviting and pleasing oily film.
Nose: Nice ABV presence. Fruit cake, icing sugar, all-butter pastry, a whisp of spearmint (more the cooling sensation than the actual aroma).
There’s a touch of brown sugar-dusted red apple skin as the glass matures.
There’s also an undercurrent scent of a more vegetal variety. Damp leaves and forest floor.
It’s a lovely nose albeit lighter and more delicate than the previous releases I’ve tried. I like it.
Palate: Not a particularly oily mouthfeel. It’s not watery, just not that buttery silkiness I love.
Spice forward: Tingling hot cinnamon and mild chilli. Brown sugar, butterscotch notes follow the initial heat.
As more sips are taken, the sweetness comes to the front in the form of confectionery sugar, but also some tropical fruit flavours too. There is a spice note in support, a bit like chilli chocolate.
There are some pleasing butter notes, icing sugar-dusted berries and rich darker fruit flavours too.
Very slightly drying with those vegetal elements from the nose making themselves evident now on the palate.
Finish: Fairly short. Chilli chocolate, black pepper, nettle, mint and cinnamon.
Overall: While this isn’t my favourite release from the lovely people at Cotswolds, it does have a lot to live up to. It is a great whisky in its own right though and I’ll happily enjoy the rest of the bottle. I’m also excited to see how the bottle develops.
