Edradour: Straight From The Cask: Port Cask Finish (Scottish Highland Single Malt Whisky: 12 Year: 56.1% ABV)
Visual: Rose wine touched gold.
Viscosity: Slow thick streaks.
Nose: Cherries. Marzipan and fruitcake. Rose wine. Vanilla toffee. Water makes more floral. Soft peach skin. Cake sponge and almonds.
Body: Floral. Apricot. Rose wine. Cherries. Alcohol very noticeable. Heather. Light lime touch. Much sweeter with water. Also peaches, custard and much less noticeable alcohol
Finish: Light oak. Drying alcohol. Heather. Rose wine. Menthol. Malt drinks. Water adds peach and makes for more menthol. More chocolate, fresh mint and almonds also comes out.
Conclusion: Hmm, what to say? Well the color is lovely, like rose wine touched whisky. There is something so very aesthetically pleasing about port finished whisky. Secondly, this needs water. It is pretty much the poster child for whisky that needs water. The cask strength neat will numb your tongue in seconds.
So the whisky then. A veritable cornucopia of influences. Rose wine in body and finish, but with that apricot and peach fruitiness, heather and floral backing. In the aroma it wears the influence of cherries, marzipan and fruitcake that are much more Christmas cake like that the light fruits you find in the body below.
The floral elements are mostly hidden I will admit, secondary below the sweetness, and there is a final flourish with menthol freshness to the finish, so many elements pulling so many ways. That menthol finish is a bit of a weak point to me, all the elements before that were very different but never felt disparate like the menthol does.
This difference of elements is why it is hard to sum up, there are lots of good and some great element, but not much ties into a coherent whole. I shall say I will concentrate on the body, the wine and peach apricot mix seems to best encapsulate the whisky. Therefore it is strong, heavy and wide in range. Holds better in quality in individual elements than a whole but still far from bad and often very enjoyable.
Background: It seems Brewdog Bristol is rotating the whisky selection nicely, after the chardonnay cask finish they brought this port finish in. I still haven’t reviewed the basic Edradour expression yet, I really should get on that. Anyway I generally enjoy port finished whisky and the from the cask selection has been nice so far so I decided to relax through a Saturdays drinking with a measure of this.