1st Fill Oloroso is a favourite of mine, add some peat and it's a match made in heaven! @WhiskyBarrel have released a number of bottles in their Originals range which have been matured in 1st Fill Oloroso, one of which is peated!
Let's try some!
The Whisky Barrel was founded by Alastair Brown in 2007 as an online whisky shop in Edinburgh, starting off holding a small stock in a bedroom cupboard. In 2010 The Alastair secured warehouse and office space in the Kingdom of Fife. In November 2019, they launched their first fully fledged independent brand of Scotch Whisky - The Whisky Barrel Originals. 2022 is their 15th Anniversary.
All three of these bottles came from The Whisky Barrel's Original's series:
"The Whisky Barrel presents ORIGINALS® to showcase particular characteristics of our specially selected single casks from the finest Scotch whisky distilleries. For almost a decade our careful whisky cask management programme has yielded Scotch whiskies maturing in the finest oak casks from bodegas in Jerez, Spain. The Whisky Barrel selects a small number of these whisky casks to be bottled only when they are ready. Unique; single cask whisky never to be repeated."
| Dram | Balblair 2009 10yo Single Cask #1008 | Miltonduff 2009 10yo Single Cask #1007 | Ledaig 2008 11yo Single Cask #1006 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | 59.4% ABV Natural colour, NCF 1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Hogshead | 63.4% ABV Natural colour, NCF 1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Hogshead | 54.4% ABV Natural colour, NCF 1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Hogshead |
| Distillery notes | Nose: Sweet sherry, orange peel, cinnamon and honey. Taste: Warming sweet spices, citrus burst, barley, chilli heat and oak. Finish: Long, sweet and creamy with pepper and Dundee marmalade. | Nose: Pear drops, milk chocolate, banana skin, cinnamon, honey and Allspice. Taste: Brandy Snaps, vanilla pods, honey, milk chocolate and sweet sherry. Finish: Honey roast almonds, soft, dry, spicy and warming | Nose: Intense peat smoke, tar, smoked fish and crispy bacon, almonds and sweet sherry. Taste: Harmony of bonfire smoke, coastal brine and sweet sherry notes. Herbal, chilli, toasted almonds and waxy dark chocolate. Finish: Long, briny, more ash and bonfire smoke. |
| My thoughts: | |||
| Appearance |  | ||
| Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as a hairline crack in the glass, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs. | Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line in the glass, bead up and fall as slow thin oily legs. | Light gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line in the glass, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs. | |
| Nose | Blueberry jam, strawberries, blackberries and a little tropical fruit: pineapple and mango. There's some walnuts, toffee, vanilla and a little dried fruit. A little time and air offers orange zest and a little honey. | Orchard fruit to the fore here - apples, pears and peaches but there are some berry jam notes and a little honey. Chocolate covered dry fruit and a some strawberry yogurt. Hints of dunnage warehouse. | Thick peat smoke, tar, rubber and antiseptic. Get past this and you get a little orchard fruit, BBQ sauce, marzipan and a little salinity. |
| Palate | Thick spicy arrival, immediately drying - icing sugar. I didn't get any spice on the nose but it's here in bucketfuls on the palate: ginger, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon. The jam and berries from the nose are here - nuts, huge fruit notes with a little date and fig. There's salted caramel, orange marmalade and a little sour citrus as the liquid disappears. | Lovely thick arrival, balsamic vinegar covered strawberries, dried fruit, and nutty toffee. The ABV hides really well - no need for water in this. A few more sips and the dryness kicks in - moisture sucked from the mouth leaving dried fruit, honey and some milk chocolate notes. There is some sour citrus and a chilli spice. Nice. | Thick chewy arrival, juicy tropical fruit: pineapple, mango and kiwi; a little spice and then instant dryness with a blanket of smoke as the liquid disappears. A few more sips offer oak tannins, sour citrus, Battenberg Cake, salty seaweed and a kick of ginger spice. Very nice! |
| Finish | Lingering citrus, dry nuts and strawberry jam. | Lingering citrus, berries and dry spice. | Lingering smoke, salinity and ginger spice. |
| Overall | None of these drams had the colour I'd expect from 1st fill Oloroso, only the Miltonduff was getting close to the dark side of gold but they all had some sherry influence on the nose and palate. I'd tried the Balblair before at a #BlindDrams session and it was good - this second try didn't disappoint, it's not a Sherry Bomb, it's not what you'd call a traditional Balblair but it's good! The Miltonduff was new to me, and from a distillery I've not had much from before and with very mixed results. This one tried to be your full on Dunnage Warehouse Sherry Bomb but didn't quite make it. It was however a very good dram. The Ledaig was the ugly duckling of the trio, peat smoke mixed in with the sherry - who would think of such a thing? Well I'll tip my hat to whomever it was - an excellent dram as this one turned into a swan. Unfortunately all of these bottles have now sold out but I'd recommend trying any of The Whisky Barrels newer releases. | ||
Many thanks to @whiskytip for the sample swaps!
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