Side by side: A trio of single casks from Lindores Abbey

@LindoresAbbey have started releasing a steady stream of single cask bottlings.

Garson recently split some out as a fundraiser for Ukraine. Let's try them!

I've tried a set of Lindores Abbey single casks as part of a tweet tasting and they were all really good but to be honest I was less than impressed with their standard 46% release. let's see what these single casks are like:

Dram	2018 3yo Single Cask  #18/229	2018 3yo Single Cask  #18/235	2018 3yo Single Cask #18/74
Characteristics	62% ABV, NCF, Natural colour Ex-Forrester Bourbon 168 bottles	62.9% ABV, NCF, Natural colour Thiron French Virgin Oak Hogshead 320 bottles	61.7% ABV, NCF, Natural colour Monbazillac Wine Barrique 300 bottles
Distillery notes	None	None	None
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, slowly form beads and fall as slow thin legs.	Light bronze in the glass, swirls clings as a very thin line, slowly form beads and fall as slow thin legs.	Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, slowly form beads and fall as slow thin legs.
Nose	Toasted oak, vanilla custard and some marzipan. There's some lemon bonbon notes here too. There's some banana and cream hints.	Some musty second hand bookshop hints with spices, orange zest and vanilla. There's a little toffee, vanilla, chocolate raisin and perfume notes.	A little dunnage funk, dried fruit, black stoned fruit and hints of spice to come. There's a little maritime smoke and some citrus hints.
Palate	Thick sweet arrival, huge vanilla custard notes with lemon zest and marzipan. There's a peppery spice as the first drop hits the tongue but that fades over time. Chewy caramel, pineapple upside down cake and more of the vanilla custard. With a few more sips the spice comes back - ginger and cinnamon but it's not overpowering. Yummy!	Thick sweet arrival, honey, toffee and peppery spice to start. There's an interesting rye spice note on this one too tying up with the perfume on the nose. Strawberry chewits, a little dried pineapple and some plum notes.  A few more sips offer salted caramel and dry oak notes.	Another thick sweet arrival, the colour is nothing to go on, this is more like a sherry cask maturation - loads of dried fruit, berries, dates, figs etc. There's a little smoke and a little salt as per the nose. A few more sips offer toffee, tropical fruit and a bite of peppery spice. Yummy!
Finish	Lingering vanilla, pineapple and ginger spice.	Long dry peppery finish with toffee and honey.	Lingering peppery spice, tropical fruit and citrus fizz.
Overall	The ex-bourbon gives what you'd think of as Lindores Abbey's distillery character: vanilla, lemon, toffee and marzipan. Even with a dram this young, there's no rough new make notes - it's yummy. I think the ABV is helping here, even at 62% I didn't feel the need to add any water - there's no alcohol burn at all, it's a little strange as I always seem to get new make notes on their core range 46% bottling. I'm guessing the Virgin Oak is full term not a finish, it's influence on the spirit is huge, gone are the vanilla, lemon and marzipan notes replaced by rye, strawberries and plums. The wine  cask is a different beast altogether - loads of sherry notes even though Monbazillac is a white sweet desert wine like Sauternes - very strange! The distillery character is still here augmented with smoke, salt and those interesting sherry notes! Any of these single casks are worth a look at, if you see any give them a try!