These are my tasting notes and thoughts for 3 Deanston whiskies:
- 16yr old 2002 Organic Oloroso Cask Finish 50.6% ABV.
- 16yr old 2002 organic px finish hand-fill 49.6% ABV.
- Warehouse 4 2004 Amontillado sherry butt hand-fill 59.4% ABV.
16Yr old 2002 organic Oloroso cask finish 50.6% ABV
This whisky spent the last 2 years of its maturation in organic Oloroso sherry casks.
Appearance
Lovely deep gold in colour, nice thick swirl line and thick legs and teardrops.
Nose
Blimey that’s some nose, lots of spices, stewed dark fruits, shoe polish, a slight menthol note too. Damp leaf litter, linseed oil, sweet cherries, dandelion and burdock.
Black liquorice, blackcurrants, it’s also a little dusty with a faint perfume feel to it too.
Palate
Nice mouthfeel, oily, and quite spicy, it’s a dirty dram that’s for sure. Mince pie filling, faint cap gun caps, ginger root, cinnamon, espresso, black liquorice, pontefract cakes, cigar leaves.
Blood oranges, and pomegranate, cranberries and a little drying and gentle smoke.
Finish
Quite long, warming my spicy now, cask char, black coffee bitterness, grapefruit, and still loads of stewed dark fruits.
My thoughts
What a way to start this trio of Deanston malts, this is a full on bold and spicy Oloroso cask Dram. “Oily” and “dirty” are definitely a couple of words that describe it very well indeed, and if that appeals to you this could be a great whisky to try. Not one for the faint of heart, but a great adventure for the more experienced in my opinion.
Would i buy a bottle?
Of the three we tasted this evening i did put this last, but in all honesty it is very good dram, and it didn’t come last by much. The depth of aromas and flavours is impressive, and i’d gladly have a bottle.
Notes – This whisky is natural coloured and non chill filtered.
16yr old 2002 Organic Px finish hand-fill 49.6% ABV
This whisky spent 12 Years in new American Oak, followed by 4 years in a Pedro Ximenez cask.
Appearance
Deeper gold again, chestnut, again nice thick swirl line, with syrupy slow thick legs and teardrops.
Nose
There’s more menthol with this one, I’m getting tropical/dark fruits, it’s more dusty than the Oloroso too. I’m getting more aromatic wood, rose water, cherries again now, dark on the back of the palate while nosing.
If I didn’t know better, I would have said that this was a higher ABV, at least from the nose. The oloroso carried it so well. #thewhiskeychaps
— Whisk(e)y Chap 🏴🥃 (@whiskeychap) August 19, 2021
Palate
The darker fruits are here, but sweeter, like a Christmas mince pie with a dusting of caster sugar. It’s lots more fruity on the palate than wood, a little surprising. Pomello, cranberries, very little drying.
Oddly I get lemonade, odd but nice, milk chocolate, and nutty too, and again the sweetness comes along too. There is more sweetness with this one, a touch of Parma violets, icing sugar, and more wood.
It’s definitely different on the nose that the Oloroso isn’t it, quite surprising tbh. #thewhiskeychaps
— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) August 19, 2021
Finish
Longer than the Oloroso, lovely and warming, tropical fruits with a touch of bitterness, sweet lemon too, very nicely balanced between sweet and spice, very nice indeed.
My thoughts
It was really interesting, and the point of tasting three different sherry type casked Deanston’s, and this was my favourite of the three. I found more red berry fruit sweetness with this PX cask, the difference to the Oloroso cask was immediate. The whole range of aromas and flavours suited my palate better, both Whiskey Chap and myself agreed that this was the best of the three form us, it’s delicious to be honest.
Would i buy a bottle?
Yep yep yep, a belter for me and one of the best sherry cask whiskies iv’e tried in all honesty, i absolutely adore this and would definitely have a bottle, a bottle of smiles 🥰.
Notes – This whisky is natural coloured and non chill filtered.
Warehouse 4 2004 Amontillado sherry butt hand-fill 59.4% ABV
These are single cask bottlings, limited in number, selected by our Master Blender and our visitor team, once the cask is emptied, unfortunately never to be repeated.
Deanston Whisky
Appearance
Mid gold in colour this time, again a lovely thick swirl line and slow medium thick legs.
Nose
Rather sweet initially, mixed with dustiness and light wood, possibly balsa. Apricots, pears, sherbet, tea, and an earthiness comes through.
Got apple straight away on the nose. Apple refresher bar to be precise (which I bought 5 of yesterday weirdly!). #thewhiskeychaps pic.twitter.com/gU819o499i
— Whisk(e)y Chap 🏴🥃 (@whiskeychap) August 19, 2021
Palate
Way spicier than the nose suggested, lots of dark chocolate orange, has a zesty spicy feel, perhaps a cap gun cap not, though it is very faint. A mix of white and black pepper too, not had that before.
It prickles my palate, reminds me of those popping candy sweets, makes me salivate quite a bit too. I’m going green grapes with this, unripe plums too.
Finish
Quite long, becoming a little dirty, warming and lingering, leaning towards a mocha coffee, liquorice, feels nice on the lips, quite viscous. Cigar leaves and zesty starburst sweet flavours.
My thoughts
Now this is from an Amontillado sherry cask, and was the most different of the three for me. It’s quite fruity, but not necessarily fruits i’d associate with sherry. Big, fresh, zesty, tongue tingling, a very nice dram i thought, i put it 2nd on the evening.
Would i buy a bottle?
Another yes from me. Different, and i like that, shows how wide the aromas and flavours from sherry casks can be, they are no one trick ponies that’s for sure.
Notes – This whisky is natural coloured, non chill filtered and presented at natural cask strength.
Overall tasting thoughts
We were both really looking forward to this tasting, putting the different sherry types up against each other, and it really was worth it, they were quite different from each other, and all three are very nice indeed.
Thanks to – Mike from Cask to Drams, for allowing me to use his image of the PX finish hand-fill bottle, you can find Mike on Instagram here, and to Master of Malt for the image of the Organic Oloroso finish bottle.
Follow @deanstonmalt Follow @thewhiskeychaps
And now for something completely different
Continuing my whisk(e)y and music thing, songs iv’e listened to either during my tasting or review. I hope you enjoy this one.
