Hinch Imperial stout finish, 43% ABV

From the new Hinch “Craft & Cask” range.

Our Imperial Stout Finish whiskey uses casks which aged craft beers at the Whitewater Brewery in Co Down, sitting in the shadows of the Mourne Mountains. Their Kreme de la Kremlin Imperial Stout brings orchard fruits and a luxurious mouthfeel of light toffee, coffee, vanilla sweetness with cinnamon spice to follow. Our whiskey was aged in the craft beer casks for a minimum of 12 months. A modern and bold move for the whiskey lovers proudly made in County Down.

Hinch Distillery

This Whiskey was tasted as part of a Tweet Tasting on the 12th of May 2021.

Appearance

This Whiskey is damp straw in colour, it has a nice thick swirl line. It beads up on the swirl line also, and has medium thick legs.

Nose

This stout finished whiskey is the sweetest on the nose of the blended beer/stout finished whiskies that Hinch has released in their “Craft & Cask” range for me. It brings lots of tropical fruits, pineapple rings, guava and mango slices.

With more time in the glass i’m finding tobacco leaves, and tea, it’s quite light too. Cereals/grains join in too, and weetabix come to mind, there’s an almost Smokey note too, perhaps it’s char i’m getting.

Palate

Cloves are a good shout 👍#HinchDistillery

— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) May 12, 2021

We’re straight into darker flavours for me here, espresso, dates, figs, Black Forest gateau, with cranberries that bring a little drying. Further time and i’m getting high cocoa dark chocolate, rum and raisin, black treacle, hazelnuts and anise.

I’m adding grapefruit/pomelo with even more time, and it does become a little more citrus zesty.

I get that cranberries hit now too Mick. I'm now also feeling Nutella? It has those rich nutty coco notes for me. #HinchDistillery #ImperialStout @hinchdistillery @TweetTastings @TheWhiskyWire

— PAUL MCDERMOTT (@_PMcDermott) May 12, 2021

Finish

Medium long in length, and it’s warming and lingering. Black liquorice, more coffee, surprisingly some icing sugar, and oak are the bulk of the finish.

There’s also a touch of salt right at the end, along with cooked rhubarb, i don’t get that very often, it’s lovely.

My thoughts

I have tasted an Imperial stout cask finish from the Hinch distillery as an innovation sample in an earlier Tweet Tasting, and i thoroughly enjoyed it back then. I am a sucker for beer/stout cask whiskies and this one is another lovely drop in my humble opinion.

Would i buy a bottle?

A bit of a pointless question really, especially if you’ve read my reviews of the other bottlings from the Hinch “Craft & Cask” range, but it’s a resounding yes. I really do love these cask type bottlings, from fruity to char, what a super spectrum of aromas and flavours.

Thanks to – @hinchdistillery, @TheWhiskyWire, @TweetTastings, and @MaltMusings – all Twitter.