Side by side : Deanston Single Casks

Deanston isn't a distillery that's really been on my radar, but having been camping close by on a recent road trip I decided to pay a visit.

I came away with 3 single cask bottlings, let's see what they are like.

Blender Brodie Hepburn Ltd, who also built Macduff and Tullibardine distilleries, took over the Adelphi cotton mill in 1965 and converted it into Deanston Distillery. Located in the village of Doune on the banks of the River Teith just outside Stirling it's a fairly modern distillery. A number of takeovers later and the distillery has been owned by South Africa's Distell Group since 2013.

Utilising a open-topped cast iron mash tun and 4 stills the distillery produces nearly 3 million litres a year.

There's no chill filtering or added colour across the range, my bottles all had cask sediment in them!

One of these drams has been matured in ex-bourbon casks the other two in sherry casks at the dryer end of the scale:

Fino is the driest and palest of the traditional varieties of Sherry. The wine is aged in barrels under a cap of flor yeast to prevent contact with the air.

Manzanilla is an especially light variety of Fino Sherry.

Manzanilla Pasada is a Manzanilla that has undergone extended aging or has been partially oxidised, giving a richer, nuttier flavour.

Amontillado is a variety of Sherry that is first aged under flor and then exposed to oxygen, producing a sherry that is darker than a Fino but lighter than an Oloroso, naturally dry.

Oloroso is a variety of sherry aged oxidatively for a longer time than a Fino or Amontillado, producing a darker and richer wine. Like Amontillado it's naturally dry.

Palo Cortado is a variety of Sherry that is initially aged like an Amontillado, typically for three or four years, but which subsequently develops a character closer to an Oloroso. This either happens by accident when the flor dies, or commonly the flor is killed by fortification or filtration.

Jerez Dulce (Sweet Sherries) are made either by fermenting dried Pedro Ximénez (PX) or Moscatel grapes, which produces an intensely sweet dark brown or black wine.

Info from  Wikipedia

Lets see what the whisky is like...

Dram	2003 17yo Single Cask #2341	2004 15yo Single Cask #81	2001 18yo Single Cask #62
Characteristics	58.8% ABV Natural Colour, NCF Ex-bourbon	59.4% ABV Natural Colour, NCF Amontillado Sherry Butt	55.3% ABV Natural Colour, NCF Organic Fino Finish
Distillery notes	D: '03, B: 25 Aug '20 No tasting notes to be found.	The Amontillado sherry influence gives this cask strength warehouse edition a rather festive feel with notes of butterscotch, spiced orange, roasted almonds and brown sugar. Nose: Butterscotch, waxy, spiced orange. Palate: Roasted almond, liquorice, brown sugar. Finish: Long and drying, tobacco leaf, ginger root.	Distilled in December 2001 during our week of Organic whisky production, this was originally matured in re-charred American white oak casks.  In 2016, we transferred the spirit to an Organic Fino hogshead from Bodegas Robles. Nose: Sticky toffee pudding, hazelnut syrup, apricot. Palate: Dry and spicy, herbaceous, roasted nuts. Finish: Mineral, salted caramel and dry spices.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Pale gold in the glass, swirls form a line of tiny beads. These form large beads eventually falling as slow thick legs.	Mid gold in the glass, swirls again form a line of tiny beads. These form large beads eventually falling as slow thick legs.	Dark gold in the glass, swirls form a hairline crack on the glass. Eventually forming small beads whish fall as slow thin legs.
Nose	The ABV gets you first burning the hairs in your nose, fresh cut grass, a little sweet honey and a big kick of citrus - sour grapefruit? With water: the citrus has changed from sour to sweet - more orangey than grapefruit.	Struck match - sulphur notes,  rubber tyres, candle wax and beetroot - very strange. Some sweetness - a strong cooked meat note - honey glazed ham? With water: roast beef Monster Munch crisps.	Sticky toffee pudding from the distillery tasting notes is spot on - yummy! A little digestive biscuit and hazelnut. With water: not much has changed maybe a little vanilla custard on the toffee?
Palate	Sweet arrival, honey and heather, a little floral - the citrus note from the nose is back again in hand fulls. As the liquid disappears a dry grassy note is left on the tongue. With water: floral notes to the fore now, a little honey and an added dryness.	Huge woody sherry notes - too long time in the cask maybe? Christmas nut bowl. A little toffee. Very drying - moisture stripping even. With water: enhances the wood and dials down the nuts a little.	Sweet toffee, instantly drying, a little sweet orange, honey and more of the nutty cereal notes. With water: a little less sweet, honey still to the fore, a little peppery spice but then it's instantly drying - stripping the moisture from your mouth like the Amontillado did.
Finish	Short dry sour citrus.	Short dry woody oak.	Short dry toffee and cinnamon.
Overall	I'm guessing the ex-bourbon is the best example of the distillery DNA - floral, citrus notes with a little cut grass - a little water gave more sweetness and a dry note, but for me it just didn't tick the boxes. I couldn't find out but I'm guessing the Amontillado dram has spent all of its 15 years in the sherry butt and for me that was just too long - huge oaky wood notes and dry sherry - not the strawberry jam I normally associate with sherry. The Monster Munch crisps note just put the lid on it for me - didn't enjoy this at all. The final dram, the Fino, started with a wonderful Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding (look it up - it's the best!)  note which just carried on through palate and finish - really nice. A really strange set of drams, but to be honest I didn't know what to expect as I've not tried much Deanston. The Amontillado was really not nice - not sure how I'll finish the bottle. The Ex-bourbon was nice - needed a little water but a good example of an unpeated Highlander. The Fino stood out for me as the best of the three - sweet without being too sweet, slightly spicy - Christmasy even!