This is the second oldest whisky I’ve ever had the pleasure of sampling (only beaten by the Whyte & Mackay 50 Year Old), so I’ll be more detailed than usual!
Wemyss Malts is an independent Scottish bottler. They were founded in 2005 by the brother and sister team, William and Isabella Wemyss. The family has direct links to Scotland’s whisky history when Haig built the first distillery on their land in the Kingdom of Fife in 1840.
The Single Cask Collection has been developed to enable each cask chosen for bottling to showcase the finest characteristics of that particular region. Each whisky’s name reflects the unique aromas and flavours exhibited within the bottle.
Vintage Chesterfields was distilled in 1988 by Invergordon Distillery. As it’s a Single Grain Whisky, it can only contain four ingredients: water, malted barley, whole cereals and yeast.
It’s then aged and matured for 30 years in ex-Sherry butts.
Only 501 bottles were produced.
- Rested for 30 minutes
- Tasted using the Neat Elite glass
Appearance: Mahogany/chocolate. A thick oily swirl line forms and takes an absolute age to start to fall back into the glass.
Nose: The higher ABV is immediately evident, but that’s a great thing as it’s a cask strength!
As well as the beautiful sweet wood notes, there’s also eucalyptus, hazelnuts, coffee, figs and caramelised dark fruits in the mix on the nose, but working in perfect harmony.
Up next on this conveyor belt of aromas are muscovado and a touch of lemon citrus.
The scents just keep evolving and taking stints in the lead. Once the muscovado appears, however, it’s the aroma that sticks for me as the headline.
Palate: Thick syrupy arrival, one that I’ve come to expect from Wemyss’ older releases. It’s a high expectation, but one that they haven’t failed to meet yet!
For a cask strength, on the first sip, this is very friendly on the palate, no real heavy ‘hit’. On the second sip, however, that hit is more evident.
Burnt sugar, bitter chocolate, cinnamon, black pepper and faint copper emerge first, on the palate. Traditional lemonade follows, reminiscent of summer evenings, lazing about in a park.
Bitter stewed fruits and brandy butter are last to show on the palate.
Finish: Cooling eucalyptus, a touch spicy and the stewed fruits are most dominant in the finish.
It’s medium in length but I think that’s a fitting finale for this whisky, as it leaves you wanting more and slightly sad that another sip has come to an end.
Overall: As I’ve come to expect from Wemyss, another wonderful whisky that screams knowledge and quality.
Untold Riches is still my favourite Wemyss release (and possibly my favourite whisky in general, to date), but this rates highly for sure!
A huge ‘thank you!’ to Wemyss Malts for sending me this sample. It’s been a true pleasure to savour and is a simply stunning whisky. So much so, that I found a bottle straight after the sample and purchased it, so that’s my monthly whisky budget blown!!
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