@whitepeakwhisky have just
released a pair of bottlings, both near identical Ex-Red Wine STR casks
both matured in slightly different ways.
Lets try them!
Wire Works suggested:
"A horizontal bottling of two ‘identical’ ex-red wine casks, filled
the same month but matured in different locations; the upper and lower
dunnages. Explores the maturational differences of warehouse location
(temperature, humidity, air flow)."
and of course I had to try them!
The whisky names come from a mob football match:
"These unique bottlings of Wire Works single malt single cask whisky’s
are named after the two teams who compete in the centuries old, local
annual mob football match in the Derbyshire market town of Ashbourne.
The match takes place over Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday between
the Up’ards, (traditionally those from north of the Henmore brook),
and the Down’ards (from south of the brook). The game is played
throughout the town of Ashbourne and surrounding areas between two
goals 3 miles apart. Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football."
White Peak have 3 core dunnage style warehouses where the casks are
stacked on their sides, supported by wooden rails (or dunnage); the
Lower Dunnage, the Upper Dunnage and Warehouse 6 (which was formerly
the main wire drawing shed, dating back to the 1870’s).
Distillery thoughts:
We’re curious about the potential role the different warehouse
locations at the Wire Works can play in the development of flavour,
and how we might use this knowledge in future plans. For this
bottling, we tried to control as many variables as possible (see
below), with the warehouse location then being the key point of
difference. (NB. due to being made of natural materials and made by
hand, no two casks are exactly identical).
Date casks filled: March 2019
Malt batch: identical
Spirit distillation cut points: identical
Casking strength: identical (63.5% abv)
STR casks specification and batch: identical (STR G2C AO/FO)
Up'ards was matured in the Upper Dunnage UD3A: raised mezzanine with
higher temperatures in the summer months/ higher annual temperature
variation / higher air flow across the seasons
Down'ards was matured in the Lower Dunnage LD5B; partially
sub-terranean with lower annual temperatures across seasons / low annual
temperature variation / reduced airflow and increased humidity.
The lower dunnage is subterranean, so cooler ambient temperatures year round, lower temperature volatility, lower humidity and airflow. The upper dunnage is at the same level as the stills, and not far from them, with a metal roof, so temperatures are dramatically different.
Dram |
Wire Works Up'ards |
Wire Works Down'ards |
Characteristics |
Single Cask 2019-085 Ex-Red Wine STR cask (American Oak
with French Oak heads) Level 2 Char
Location code
UD3A (Upper Dunnage)
52.7% ABV 330 bottles
|
Single Cask 2019-052 Ex-Red Wine STR cask (American Oak
with French Oak heads) Level 2 Char
Location code
LD5B (Lower Dunnage)
52.7% ABV 330 bottles
|
Distillery notes |
Drier, spicier nose. Aromas of fresh coffee beans, with
liquorice on the palate. A touch more tannic, with some nice
rich spice on the finish.
The flavour profile is
in line with expectations due to the higher ambient
temperatures, and temperature volatility, leading to a
higher extraction of polyphenols (flavour compounds in the
oak, of which tannins are an example).
|
Fruitier, sweeter nose. Light biscuity, and floral notes on
the palate. Vanilla fudge to finish.
The flavour
profile makes sense, with ambient factors being the inverse
of the Up'ards bottling. Slightly lower tannin extraction
paves way for the sweeter, and more delicate flavours.
|
My thoughts: |
Appearance |
|
Light bronze in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead
up slowly and fall as slow thin oily legs.
|
Light bronze in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead
up slowly and fall as slow thin oily legs.
|
Nose |
A medley of berries and currants to start: raspberries,
blackberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and strawberries.
There's a hint of smoke or char, some milk chocolate,
liquorice and a little stewed apple.
|
Similar berry and currant notes, the smoke is a little more
obvious on this one. There's a little more sweetness with
honey and penny toffees.
|
Palate |
Thick sweet arrival, loads of berry and cherry notes, mouth
coating chewiness and a bite of oak spice. Milk chocolate is
very dominant on the tongue, a little stewed apple and some
caramel sauce. Very drying and spicy as the liquid
disappears.
|
Again a thick sweet arrival, honey and golden syrup dominate
on this one. The berry and cherry notes follow, reminding me
a lot of the previous Full Port release. There is a little
milk chocolate, not as dominant this time, some liquorice
and toffee notes. The smoke on the nose has all but gone
too. Slightly drying and a little spice as the liquid
disappears.
|
Finish |
Lingering sweet berry notes, very dry oak spice and a hint
of smoke.
|
Lingering sweet berry notes, a little liquorice, dry oak
spice and a hint of smoke.
|
Overall |
I'd been drying to try these 'geeky' bottles as soon as they
were announced and was lucky enough to buy them before they
sold out - got matching bottles numbers too which was nice!
So distilled a couple of weeks apart, from the same batch of barley, the same peat level, same mash method, same fermentation length, same distillation cut points, same casking abv., in similar casks, but
different warehouse locations... we all know that casks can
never be exactly the same and you'll get different flavours
from each but these also had very different maturation
locations allowing the elements to have a part in forming
flavours. The two casks were only around 20 foot apart for their entire maturation, but separated by a steel floor, which made all the difference.
The Up'ards gave a typical peated wine cask
profile, loads of berry and cherry fruit, tannins, spice and
a little sweetness - reminiscent of last years Loch Lomond
Rioja Golf Release. The Down'ards was quite different:
there was much more sweetness and fruit, reminiscent of a
port cask maturation, the gentle smoke adding a lovely
complexity.
It seems being left to mature in a cool
damp warehouse with a narrow temperature range gives a
better dram!
|
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Matching bottle numbers!
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