London Distillers: Safari: Rare Whisky (Kenya: Blended Whisky: 40% ABV)
Visual: Deep rich gold color.
Nose: Caramel. Custard. Fudge. Hard boiled sweets. Clotted cream. Butter on crumpets. Coffee fudge. Slight orange. Water adds grapes.
Body: Very light up front. Grapes. Slight coffee fudge. Some evident alcohol after a few moments. Slight orange zest. Water makes lighter and less alcohol noticeable, though more water then brings it back rougher than before. Slight clotted cream and apple with a drop of water. More water brandy cream.
Finish: Milky coffee fudge. Rice . Slight grain spirit roughness. Water adds slight grapes. Brandy cream.
Conclusion: Ok, got a lot to think about here, this is generally a quite gentle whisky but with some very interesting flavours. Or, with too much water a rough as crap single flavor thing. If nothing else this has given me a lot to talk about, so let’s get into it.
Initially it seemed a smooth but simple toffee and caramel whisky. Your expected base of a simple sweetness in a blended whisky. However over time a milky coffee touched coffee comes out from the aroma right through into the finish and I will admit it is a nice element.
The body is kind of alcohol touched, as you get with some cheaper blends, and there is a kind of neutral rice to alcohol touch in the finish. Not the best elements – these do get muted with a touch of water, but you have to be careful as too much water seems to weaken the already light body leaving it feeling kind of rough again. But a careful touch of water does a good job here. Towards more than a few drops of water this becomes kind of brandy cream like, nice enough initially but quickly comes to dominate and become single note – a bad combination with the extra roughness and does not suit the smoother flavours that came before it. So be very careful with water with this one.
With just a touch of water there is a nice subtle fruitiness to this one, with touches of grapes and orange zest backing the sweetness. Again take care though as this gentle balance is easy to break, but done right it is a nice coffee fudge backed with subtle fruit in a just slightly alcohol touched drink. Not super polished but gentle sipping.
So, overall it is mixed. Lovely gentle sweetness, with some nice subtle coffee and toffee touched notes. The coffee influence is unfamiliar but a nice change. Not bad, but never does manage to quite shake off the rougher elements. I would be very interested to see a version of this without the grain spirit, or at least with less of it, to see if it lets the flavours express themselves better – as there are some nice things to explore here.
As is, neat this is fairly soothing, with a drop of water is best, more water ruins completely. Not a must have dram, even at a cheap price, but as you may have noticed I got a lot out of examining its unusual style.
Background: Apparently this won gold in monde selection awards. Googling it looks like you have to pay to enter, and there is no limit on how many items can win awards. Sooooo, I feel this may not be the most prestigious of awards shows. Also this is made by London distillers, who are based in Kenya. Frankly sometimes I feel like a drink is just fucking with me. The web site for it doesn’t even give a description, just a recipe for a cocktail that does not include it. In an amusing honesty the back states outright that caramel is added to this, a common occurrence with whisky but rarely listed. So, erm, good for them. This was tried around at my friend Mush’s house, an acquaintance of his had brought back a bottle and let me try some. Many thanks!