I've written about Bain's Single Grains before comparing the standard 5yo against it's 15yo old brother, now thanks to a whisky mule I'm able to try two of the 18yo!
Bain's Single Grain whisky has been around for nearly 15 years, the innovation of Andy Watts, then Master Distiller but now retired. Bain's is distilled at the James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington using a 15 meter high column still - 2 columns - Stripper & rectifier. The Stripper column has 18 trays and rectifier 58 trays with 20 stripping at the bottom & 38 rectifier trays.
The 18-Year-Old single grain whisky started its life as Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky. This is made from 100% sun-kissed South African grain and spends its first three years maturing in first-fill bourbon casks before being revatted into a fresh set of first-fill ex-bourbon casks for a further two years. This 5yo is well worth trying but older expressions are now available!
The whisky then spent an additional ten years maturing in American oak to develop hints of sweet butterscotch, raisins and banana loaf flavours before being finished individually for three years in either Fino, Oloroso or PX seasoned sherry casks produced in Spain.
Distell said "the three different sherry casks have given the whiskies differing tastes. The Fino-finished whisky is the lightest and driest of the three, the Oloroso-finished has a range of flavours and the PX has a dark colour and rich, red fruit flavours".
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| Andy - distiller and salesman! |
The bottles are only available from South African Duty Free, so pretty hard to get hold of. Colin was recently there with work and bought us each a bottle!
| Dram | Bain's 18yo Fino | Bain's 18yo PX |
|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | 50.5% ABV | 50.5% ABV |
| Distillery notes | The lightest of the sherries, the Fino casks add a golden syrup colour to the whisky. The whisky is a beautiful balance of warm spice and slight sweetness with dry Sherry, floral, roasted nuts and fruity notes ending with a rich and slightly spicy taste. Colour: Golden syrup Nose: Dry Sherry notes with floral and fruity notes Taste: Warm grapes and stewed fruit with roasted nuts, warm spice and a slight sweetness Finish: The finish is warm, rich and slightly spicy oak and a well-balanced sweetness | A beautiful example of how well-suited grain whisky id to sherry finishes, the PX casks impart am intense, dark ebony colour to the whisky. The nose is big and full-bodied with sweet notes of raisins, figs and dates. Velvety with a syrupy mouth-feel and hints of honey and candied fruit, the well balanced sweetness leads to a warm, long and silky-smooth finish. Colour: Dark ebony Nose: Big and full-bodied with sweet notes of raisins, figs and dates Taste: Velvety smooth with a syrupy mouth-feel, hints of honey and candied fruit and a well-balanced sweetness Finish: The finish is warm with a long, silky-smooth ending |
| My thoughts: | ||
| Appearance |  | |
| Dark gold / bronze in the glass, swirls leave thin lines which form small beads and fall as slow thin legs | Dark gold / bronze in the glass, a little darker than the Fino. Swirls leave thin lines which form small beads and fall as slow thin legs | |
| Nose | Sherry notes hit first, blueberry jam, dried fruit, almonds, toffee vanilla and a little salinity. | Again sherry notes to the fore - jams, berries, dried fruit, prunes and balsamic vinegar soaked strawberries. |
| Palate | Sweet arrival, immediately drying, the sherry notes from the nose are here: dried fruit, dates and figs along with some apple, marzipan and a little citrus. Not much in the way of spice. The grain influence is still strong with vanilla and oak hints. | Thick sweet arrival, honey, strawberries, blueberries, dates, figs, prunes, black cherries. A little drying. Cinnamon spice adds a Christmas note but there's pepper here too. A little liquorice and dark chocolate, Yummy! |
| Finish | Lingering dryness, berries and green apple. | Lingering berries, dark chocolate and cinnamon spice. |
| Overall | As a wise man once said "2 out of 3 ain't bad", sad that I couldn't get to try the Oloroso but an interesting comparison between the Fino and PX. The Fino had the least influence of the two, some sherry notes, a little dryness but overall you could still get the Bain's grain DNA, the PX on the other hand had all but covered the grain notes with typical PX berry and spice notes. With a much hotter climate than Scotland the "angels share" on maturing whisky is much higher and I'm guessing as is the maturation so are these 18yo equivalent to a 25 or 30yo Scotch whisky? I tried to get Andy Watts to put a figure on it but he was being diplomatic saying "I think putting a definite "equivalent" is difficult. I don't think there is a direct correlation but we lose to the angels probably double. I like to say our whisky portrays itself softer, smoother & more mature at a younger age!" If you haven't tried Bains Cape Mountain Single Grain yet get yourself a bottle and if my any chance you know a 'mule' who can get you one of the older bottlings jump at the chance! | |
I received a huge 1 litre bottle from Colin so have been able to share some samples with friends - if you received one please share your thoughts!
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