JUST A MINUTE - HAVEN'T WE BEEN HERE BEFORE WITH SWITZERLAND?
And yes actually I could name one - the James Sedgwick Distillery which distils Bain's Single Grain.
This dram is from that same distillery but is a single malt rather than single grain. Bain's is available in the UK and the rest of Europe but Distell (who own the distillery) hold on to their Three Ships whisky very tightly - note the cricket bat in the label picture below. Somehow That Boutique-y Whisky Company pursued them to sell a couple of cask but Andy Watts the Master Distiller was wary of releasing anymore - Emily Chappell captured the moment in her label!
Master Distiller, Andy Watts, fills a Three Ships cask with whisky. The barrel in question is marked with P.X in the centre. In one hand, he carries the filling nozzle and in the other, he’s hammering the bung into the cask with a Derbyshire Club cricket bat.
The James Sedgwick Distillery is located about 45 miles east of Cape Town, it's the only commercial distillery in Africa. It's named after Captain James Sedgwick who worked for the British East India company transporting goods around the world. He retiring in South Africa founding the firm J. Sedgwick & Company selling quality liquor, tobacco and cigars.
After his death in 1872, two of the Captain’s sons continued the family business selling imported wines and spirits. They wanted to distill their own brandy and make fortified wines and so purchased buildings in 1886 on the banks of the Berg River - these buildings are today the site of The James Sedgwick Distillery.
Andy Watts followed a similar path visiting South Africa during his first career as a county cricketer before 'retiring' there to start a second career in spirits, first with Stellenbosch Farmers Winery and then with Distell following their 2003 merger. Three Ships was launched in 1977 and Bain's in 2009.
Thanks to the generosity of Andy I've tried a couple of the Three Ships drams before, a 10yo peated and a fantastic 8yo peated oloroso so this one is a little younger, unpeated (I think) and from a PX cask - I've been really looking forward to trying it!
Three Ships Batch 1 a 53.7% NAS
Bottler notes: This is the very first independently bottled Three Ships Whisky - ever. The delicious sip has spent time in American Oak cask and spent further time in a PX cask too. Batch 1 is a release of 1,150 bottles at 53.7%
Tasting notes: Nose: Sweetness, vanilla ice cream, mint, coriander. Palate: Herby, peppery spices, Parma Violet sweets. Finish: More pepper, warming spices and a dry finish.
My thoughts:
Appearance: a dark gold in the glass, swirls cling to the glass and eventually fall as slow thick legs.
Nose: earthy and spicy - a complex nose that gives more the longer you leave it in the glass. There's a little vanilla fudge, honey, peppermint, fruit and nut chocolate and some coffee for good measure.
Palate: Sweet buttery arrival full of strawberry and chocolate notes with a thick blanket of spice. A few more sips reveal the Parma Violet sweets that TBWC mention in their notes - very strange! There's also some tropical fruit and jam notes - pineapples and strawberries respectively.
Finish: Warm strawberry jam and chocolate notes with a dry spicy feel - yummy!
Overall: A lovely dram with offers much more than it's 6 years would suggest the fudge and vanilla notes from the bourbon cask feature strongly, so maybe it didn't spend too long in the PX cask? There is some strawberry there too and that unusual Parma Violet note - from the cricket bat?
TBWC were kind enough to send me a sample of the Three Ships as part of their (invite only) Dram Good Club.
For completeness there are three whisky distilleries in South Africa, James Sedwick, Drayman's Highveld and Qualito. let me know if you know of any more!
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