Side by side : The Fisherman's Retreat

Nestled in Twine Valley at the edge of the Pennine hills, 3 miles east of the town of Ramsbottom and around 15 miles north of Manchester is a family owned and run restaurant pub called The Fisherman's Retreat. Other than food and beer they have the odd conference and a wedding or two but they have a couple of little secrets...

So what are the secrets you ask? Well if you promise not to tell anyone....?

The Fisherman's Retreat have a Whisky Shop on site, open since 2006 it stocks over 500 whiskies, they also sell online here!

"Very nice" you say, "but that's only one secret - you promised two..."

The second is that they are also a small independent bottler, since 2013 they have been buying interesting casks and selling them as 50cl bottles.

This time I will be trying three of their drams, all have had unusual maturation. Edn. 1 was Ex Buffalo Trace Bourbon and Yalumba Muscat - a fortified red wine from South Australia; Edn. 4 was full term in Yalumba Octavius casks - a South Australian Shiraz wine and Edn 6. was a French Rivesaltes Cask.

Lets see how they compare:

Dram	Edn. 1 Bruichladdich 2007 5yo	Edn. 4 Arran 2013 5yo	Edn. 6 Bruichladdich 2007 12yo
Characteristics	59.6% ABV, Non-coloured, NCF Ex Buffalo Trace Bourbon & Yalumba Muscat Cask matured	54% ABV, Non-coloured, NCF Yalumba Octavius Red Wine Cask matured	50.4% ABV, Non-coloured, NCF Rivesaltes French Wine Cask matured
Distillery notes	In 2007 the whisky was distilled at Bruichladdich Distillery on the Isle of Islay and filled into an ex buffalo trace bourbon cask. After resting in Bruichladdich warehouse on the shores of Loch Indaal for five years the decision was made in December 2012 to transport the cask to our Lancashire home ‘The Fisherman’s Retreat’ for a little experiment. Once safely back we transferred the whisky into an ex fortified wine cask, from our friends at Yalumba winery in the Borossa Valley, South Australia. The cask rested at The Fisherman’s Retreat for a further 8 months, as anticipated the warmth of its new home greatly accelerated the maturation of the whisky and in turn the Yalumba cask completely transformed the whisky! After regular tasting of the spirit it was decided to bottle our special edition whisky in September 2013, just in time for our annual whisky festival. Although Bruichladdich at heart, it now has a great Aussie influence!	Colour : Stunning medium amber and majestic orange with golden highlights. Clean and sparkling bright. Aromas : Brilliant combinations of mellow oak and concentrated fruitiness from the Yalumba red wine cask. No other influence can encourage such an ambrosial intensity. It is a luscious aroma cradled in a halo of roasted malt with an overture of the flora and fauna of the stunning island of Arran. Palate : Wow… For one so young, it’s amazingly complex, layered and seductive. The flavours of toasted barley, rich wine-soaked oak and spicy vanilla is impressive for such a young spirit. Little hints of tangerines and almonds bring this amazing Yalumba-matured spirit to a surprising and most satisfying conclusion.	Our Edition 6 is a 12 year old single cask Bruichladdich, which has spent its life in a Rivesaltes French wine cask on the Isle of Islay. These bottles were hand filled by whisky legend Jim McEwan and owner of the Fisherman's Retreat Hervey Magnall Snr. With only 249 bottles produced this is a very unique and limited single malt, what further adds to its uniqueness is that the tasting notes where also written by Jim McEwan who describes its taste as… "At 50.4% the addition of a little spring water allows the spirit to reveal some beautiful aromas. Initially, you are welcomed by the fruitiness of pomegranate & plump ripe grapes with floral hints of honeysuckle & gorse in bloom, followed by an updraft of heather and moorland flowers with coastal drift of Atlantic breezes."
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Dark gold in the glass, a tinge of red? Swirls leave a thin line which beads up and falls a thick slow legs.	Almost salmon pink in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, taking it's time to bead up and eventually falling as slow thin legs.	Dark gold in the glass, swirls again cling as a thin line, taking it's time to bead up and eventually falling as slow thin legs.
Nose	Sherry notes jump out of the glass - strawberry jam, dunnage warehouse, dried fruit and a little hint of salt. This isn't a sherry bomb though - it's very 'sweet' on the nose - a promise of red berries to come?	Again sherry notes - but this time a little fresher and sweeter - more a mixed fruit jam, dunnage warehouse, dried fruit and some rubber glue notes.	The extra years in the cask have given this  typical sherry bomb notes - dunnage warehouse, old leather, strawberry jam and maybe a hint of smoke? Again there's a hint of red fruit to come.
Palate	Thick syrupy arrival - Mmmmm! A little burn from the ABV. Loads of red berry fruit - strawberries, raspberries, tart red currants and some orchard fruit. Instantly drying in the mouth with sour citrus notes - lemon peel. Yummy! A few more sips reveal more drying orchard fruit - pear, peaches - covered in vanilla custard and a little peppery spice.	Again a thick oil arrival, much sweeter than the Bruichladdich. Dry red wine notes with strawberry jam and orange marmalade. There's a little vanilla fudge in here too before the spice takes over - pepper and ginger. Again instantly drying - leaving red wine notes on the tongue. A few more sips reveal more of the spice dominating the fruit.	Again a thick arrival, but not oily this time - more syrupy - very sweet - very drying. Lots of sweet dark fruit notes - dates, figs, black cherries, sultanas, raisins etc - typical sherry bomb stuff. Some nutty dark chocolate leaving a dryness in the mouth. A few more sips reveal a ginger spice and some smoke, a little of the sour drying citrus from Edn. 1 - Nice!
Finish	Long drying fruit notes with a little bit of spice.	Long and spicy with drying pear notes.	Long drying dark chocolate notes with a bite of ginger spice.
Overall	To be honest I'd never heard of Fisherman's Retreat before - a chance message from Garry at their shop offered a sample of their new Edn. 6 and a discussion with Jason Whisky Surveyor @JasonGilluley, who got married there, gave an offer of two of their earlier releases. How could I refuse? All three drams come from unusual casks and it's interesting that Arran have sourced casks from the same vineyard as Bruichladdich, although the first from wine and the latter from fortified wine casks - it's not a cask I've come across before but was mightily impressed. The Edn. 6 matured was matured in Rivesaltes casks and that seems like an old friend. In my experience red wine casks traditionally give sherry notes but with a little orchard fruit and a big drying effect - it's not icing sugar - it usually sour citrus or dark chocolate notes and these three drams all exhibited these characteristics. There was a little vanilla in the Edns. 1 and 6 so I don't think the Buffalo Trace offered much. Red wine can take over a spirit and I think the first two only being matured for 5 years detailed a little of their distillery character - the third had more than twice as long and had more of a sherry bomb feel to it. I think the Bruichladdich pair were slightly better than the Arran but all three were very good drams, the Edn. 1. particularly so. Unfortunately it's sold out - but you may get it on auction. Edn. 4 -6 are still available at the shop and I'd suggest giving at least one a try!

Many thanks to @JasonGilluley for sharing Edns. 1 & 4 and to @FishRetreat for the Edn. 6 sample!

Geeky stuff:

Fisherman's Retreat Releases
Edn	Distillery	Year	Age	Cask	ABV
6	Bruichladdich	2007	12yo	Rivesaltes French Wine	50.4%
5	Port Charlotte	2008	10yo	Château Haut-Brion	54%
4	Arran	2013	5yo	Yalumba Octavius Red Wine	54%
3	Bruichladdich	2008	7yo	Ex Buffalo Trace Bourbon & Yalumba Muscat	65%
2	Arran	1997	15yo	First fill Ex-Sherry Hogshead	53.8%
1	Bruichladdich	2007	5yo	Ex Buffalo Trace Bourbon & Yalumba Muscat	59.6%

Hervey Magnall snr & Hervey Magnall Jr owners of
The Fisherman's Retreat with Edition 1 Cask and bottles.