Deanston 2004 Amontillado Sherry Butt (59.4% abv Natural Colour Non-chill filtered): Usually only available on the Warehouse 4 experience at the distillery, but released publicly, this release was new to Warehouse 4 in early 2020.
Matured for 16 years in Amontillado sherry casks, this expression is a limited batch, single cask hand filled & not filtered – “As the whisky is not filtered, you might find particles in the liquid… e.g. pieces of charcoal from the charring of the cask.”
Appearance: Dark gold/honey. Lovely thick legs and oily coating on the glass. Very inviting.
Nose: Malty/yeasty, lemons, ABV, dessert wine, vanilla sponge cake with jam. Drilled wood, strawberry jam….Well-proven dough! That’s what it is! That tangy aroma from homemade, cold proven dough!
Palate: Got apple straight away on the palate. Apple refresher bar to be precise (which I bought 5 of yesterday weirdly!).
Completely different from the nose, a real curveball! Spice and barley, lime zest and a butter note. Tingling on the tongue, slightly numbing.
It reminds me of Irish whiskey if I’m honest (not a bad thing AT ALL). It’s got that light malty orchard edge to it.
Finish: Full of green apples, slight sourness, black pepper and maltiness. There’s also a butteriness, both in flavour and mouthfeel.
Overall: Another banger from Deanston. This is an ever-evolving dram that surprises and delights. The nose is polar to the palate but both are really lovely. I prefer the 2002 PX, but that dram is hard to beat!
Featured image: Orla Barry/The World
