Weetwood's The Cheshire - Fireside

Following on from their first Special Release Seaside @weetwoodales have bottled their second called Fireside.

I've really enjoyed all of their bottlings to date so bought one of these straight away!

Distillery info:

A malt to sip and savour by the crackling fire as the weather rages outside. Full-bodied, rich and sweet. This special edition of The Cheshire has been finished in Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, imparting flavours of dried fruit and almonds. There are only 997 bottles of this unique release.

Presentation: Natural colour, non-chill filtered 46% ABV

Cask types:

Maturation – single-use, ex-bourbon, American oak quarter-casks, shaved, toasted and re-charred.

Finishing: Single-use ex-sherry casks.

Nose: Ripe cherries, amaretto and caramelised walnuts. Dried fruit and dark chocolate.

Palate: Vanilla and honey, crème brûlée. Dates, figs and raisins, like an indulgent Christmas pudding.

Finish: Rich, long and fruity with warming spice and a hint of log fire smoke.

My thoughts:

Appearance: bronze in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line, take a while to bead up and eventually fall as slow thick legs.

Nose: a mix of wine and sherry bomb: dried fruit, red berries, cherries, dates, figs. There's some marzipan notes, dark chocolate and a hind of balsamic vinegar. A little time and air offers toffee brittle, honey and some brown sugar. YUMMY!

Palate: sweet spicy arrival - from the colour you'd maybe expect something a little thicker but this is 'only' 46%. Nevertheless it coats the mouth with the berry and cherry notes from the nose, dried fruit, honey and brown sugar followed by Christmas spices as the liquid disappears. There's more dark chocolate,  balsamic vinegar drizzled strawberries and a lovely warm cherry note. Some almond hints, drying liquorice and more spice round things off.

Finish: lingering berries, dried fruit and dry spices.

Overall : Another cracking dram from Phil and the team at Weetwood - as I've said I've really enjoyed all four of their releases so far, they've also just set a price point of £50 for each bottle with is remarkable value. 

I'm assuming this is just a little over 3 years old but you'd never know - it comes across as a very balanced mature whisky - their use of quarter casks showing. 

The only negative was the texture - the colour suggesting something thick and chewy, maybe at a higher ABV that's what we'd get. I can't wait for their first cask strength or single cask releases! As it is this is a perfect winter dram for by the 'Fireside' and I don't think this bottle is going to last long!