Online tasting week May 2021 bottling.
Appearance
Burnished copper in colour, with a syrupy thick swirl line in my stemmed tulip glass, and very slow thick legs.
Nose
That’s some nose. Full on stewed dark fruits, the aroma of biting into a warm mince pie after Christmas dinner. Black pepper mixed with old style glazing putty, brownies, cola cubes, and a dustiness that’s followed by black cherry sweetness.
More time and it’s definitely giving me cooked meats and evergreen boughs aromas. I’m also getting pineapple.
Palate
The mouthfeel is good, a little oily, and yes we’re well into spicy dark fruits. Black Forest gateau and mixed berry strudel, and lots of dark chocolate for me. The spices lean towards chilli’s now, and they do hang around. Pontefract and Eccles cakes are both here, chocolate coated raisins bringing dark richness also.
Waiting longer and cigar leaves come through, and red berries. Chocolate dipped strawberries, cranberries and raspberries, and it’s still just as spicy, with cumin and cardamom.
Finish
The finish is long side of medium in general, but the spices do linger longer. Cask char or tannic flavours do come through, with dandelion and burdock, red and black liquorice, cloves and dates.
My thoughts
I need absolutely no encouragement to try a Hazelburn whisky, of the three whiskies produced at the Springbank distillery in Campbeltown Hazelburn is my favourite. So, Hazelburn spirit in a fresh Oloroso cask, is it a match made in heaven? I can say that in my opinion it is indeed a match made in heaven, there’s just so much fruitiness here, bucket loads to be honest. This is an intense experience, it’s no lightweight, and it’s one i’d love a bottle of in my whisky cupboard.
A big thank you goes out to Jason – @jason85388511, a whisky friend over on Twitter, for this super sample. Please do give Jason, along with us, a follow on Twitter using the buttons below.
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