Side by side : The Fisherman's Retreat Edition 12

I've written about @FishRetreat many times before, a restaurant in the Twine Valley at the edge of the Pennine Hills around 15 miles north of Manchester. They are also an Independent Bottler selling whiskies matured in wine casks.

Their latest release is a 4yo from @GlasgowDC Distillery - let's see what it's like!

I've tried a few Editions from Fisherman's Retreat now, I wrote about how impressive the Edn 1, 4 & 6 were here, and compared the 6 to a similar Distillery Bottling here (and 7 here and 8 here and 9 here!).

Edition 12 used Glasgow Distillery spirit distilled on 27th February 2019, matured in The Fisherman's Retreat's own Sancerre wine barrels before being finished for 4 months in an Oloroso butt and bottled on 3rd April 2023.

Sancerre isn't a wine I've heard of before but a little research revealed that it's a appellation for French Sauvignon Blanc in the Loire Valley. It tends to be used for dry, not overly sweet, desert wines.

WineFolly.com explain:

"The region’s rolling limestone hills and semi-continental climate deliver richly textured Sauvignon Blanc wines with ripe gooseberry aromas, bracing acidity, and flinty-smoke flavours."

The beautiful colour on these drams must have come from the Oloroso butt.

Let's see what these Edition 12s are like:

Dram	2019 4yo	2019 4yo Cask Strength
Characteristics	50% ABV NCF, Natural colour 670 bottles	59.1% ABV NCF, Natural colour 200 bottles
Distillery notes	Spirit from the Glasgow Distillery has been placed in hand-selected first-gill Sancerre wine barrels for over 3 years and finished for a further 4 months in one mighty Oloroso sherry butt from Cadiz. From hand selecting and transporting these casks from winey to distillery, we have been involved in every step of this whiskies life and we couldn't be more proud of what has been achieved. This might only be a youngster in the whisky world but it's one hell of a dram!
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Dark gold in the glass, swirls leave a thin line on the glass which beads up slowly eventually falling as slow thin legs.	Dark gold in the glass, swirls leave a thin line on the glass which beads up slowly eventually falling as slow thin legs.
Nose	Gooseberries, salinity, minerality and a faint heathery peat note. There's some tropical fruit and toffee from the Glasgow spirit and red berry notes from the Oloroso. There is a little vanilla and hint of spice to come.	This is a little more restrained, the berry and salinity notes are still here but the peat smoke hint has disappeared. There's a little more toffee and red berries along with some buttered popcorn and some milk chocolate.
Palate	Thick sweet arrival, tropical fruit, red berries, honey and some brown sugar. There's a lot of mineral notes, salinity and some sour citrus. It then goes all dry and spicy: cinnamon and white pepper; as the liquid disappears. Nice.	Another thick sweet arrival, red berries to the fore this time. The minerality and salinity are still here alongside dry gooseberries, tropical fruit and citrus. There's some nutty toffee and milk chocolate hints. Then again it all goes dry and spicy with cinnamon and white pepper. Lovely!
Finish	Lingering dry salinity, peppery spice and gooseberries.	Lingering dry salinity, peppery spice and gooseberries.
Overall	The Glasgow DNA tropical fruit, toffee and vanilla notes are here. I've not tried any Sancerre wine before so I'm not sure of the notes it would give to the spirit. Dry minerality and some salinity seems to come through and a hint of sour citrus. The oloroso finish has given red berries and a little toffee. Overall a lovely pair of drams but which one to go for: 50% or 59.1% cask strength? For me the nose is better on the lower ABV bottling but the palate is better on the higher one, it's a little more complex and will easily take some water if that's you want? The finish is very similar on both. at no stage is the Glasgow spirit overwhelmed so fans should still get this fairly easily and as usual you'd never guess this was 'only' 4 years old. Great spirit finished in some very interesting casks - well worth a try!

Many thanks to @FishRetreat for the samples.

Fisherman's Retreat have bottles of their Edition 12 for sale on their website. The whisky will go on pre-sale on Monday 8th May priced at £50 for the 50%, £80 for the 59.1% and £125 for the pair. It will then go on general sale on Monday 15th May at £60, £80 and £125 respectively.

Fisherman's Retreat Releases:

Edn	Distillery	Year	Age	Cask	ABV
12	Glasgow	2019	4yo	Sancerre & Oloroso	59.1% & 50%
11	Glenglassaugh	2012	10yo	Yalumba Fortified Muscat	54.6%
10	Arran	2013	9yo	Yalumba Octavius Red Wine	60.4% & 50%
9	Bruichladdich	2011	10yo	Yalumba Viognier White Wine	64.8% & 50%
8	Arran	2007	7yo	Yalumba Viognier White Wine	60.4% & 50%
7	Bruichladdich	2011	8yo	Yalumba Octavius Red Wine	50.4%
6.1	Bruichladdich	2007	14yo	Rivesaltes French Wine then 2 years in  Yalumba Fortified wine cask	50.4%
6	Bruichladdich	2007	12yo	Rivesaltes French Wine	50.4%
5	Port Charlotte	2008	10yo	Château Haut-Brion	54%
4	Arran	2013	5yo	Yalumba Octavius Red Wine	54%
3	Bruichladdich	2008	7yo	Ex Buffalo Trace Bourbon & Yalumba Muscat	65%
2	Arran	1997	15yo	First fill Ex-Sherry Hogshead	53.8%
1	Bruichladdich	2007	5yo	Ex Buffalo Trace Bourbon & Yalumba Muscat	59.6%