Single Malt English Whisky, Distilled at the Cotswolds Distillery, First-fill STR cask. Aged: 4 Years, Filled: 05.2016 – Bottled: 04.202, Single Cask, 1 of 324, 54% vol, 70cl, Non-chill filtered and Natural colour.
STR casks are ex-Burgundy (red) wine casks that have been shaved (S), toasted (T) and re-charred (R). This rejuvenates the cask and allows for a more balanced oak/red wine maturation type.
This sample was very kingly gifted to me by New Dram Drinker, follow buttons for their Twitter and Youtube accounts are at the bottom of this review.
Appearance
We have a deep gold colored whisky here, swirl line beads up into syrupy thick teardrops and legs.
Nose
Initially I’m getting a huge wave of strawberry Opal fruits and raspberries, accompanied by peppermint, and cigar leaves, and there’s a dustiness too, from the start it’s quite obvious that it’s a complex nose. I’m loving the amount of fruit sweetness here, and there’s even more with apricots and blood oranges.
With more time it spices up more, and there’s plenty of oak, an earthiness also comes through quite strong, at this point i could not have guessed that this whisky is only 4 years old, it’s so deep and well married. This is also another whisky that i can taste on the back of my palate if i nose it with my mouth open, very spicy indeed.
Palate
Straight away you get a super syrupy mouthfeel, it’s so viscous and coats the mouth and tongue wonderfully. Again like the nose there’s a barrage of red berry fruits, and again on the palate they share the stage with lovely spices too.
Spicy ginger, hot cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, cumin, cardamom, chilli’s. Icing sugar persists throughout and keeps the sweet/spicy combo going, the balance is perfect in my humble opinion.
With more time there’s seared pineapple slices, and chocolate Orange, and heading towards the finish the spice comes on stronger.
Finish
Long side of medium in length for me, and from here it’s mainly spicy. There’s espresso coffee, cask char, and real pepperiness, like real black pepper on the tongue, iv’e not had that before to be honest, it’s quite prominent and i hope i come across it again sometime.
My thoughts
I’d like to thank Ant and Nicky for this sample, it was meant for a New Dram Drinker CO’s session but dates ended up clashing sadly, but if they hadn’t i might not have gotten to try this delightful whisky.
I still can’t believe this whisky is only 4 years old, the depth and maturity are impressive, and in my opinion would outshine many brands entry level and mid level bottling’s, a big comment but this is a big whisky.
Would i buy a bottle?
You bet i would, it’s a total no brainer to be honest. From first nosing it i knew this was going to be at least a good whisky, between the depth on the nose and viscosity in the glass, being one of the most syrupy iv’e come across, the signs were improving, the palate confirmed everything, it is what i call “a belter” of a dram.
Thanks to – Ant and Nicky (@newdramdrinker and @MRs _NDD on twitter).
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