Origin: Isle of Mull (Scotland)
Type: Single Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 53.7%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Sherry Butt
Chillfiltered: No
Additional coloring: No
Owner: Valinch & Mallet Ltd.
Average price: € 99.00
Official website: www.valinchandmallet.com
Vote: 90/100
As difficult as it has been in many respects, 2020 has not stopped the passion and enthusiasm of those who put more than professionalism into their work.
Defying the difficulties related not only to the pandemic but also to the looming of Brexit, the two minds (and two hearts) behind the bottler Valinch & Mallet (whose, I remind you, are the very Italian Fabio Ermoli and Davide Romano), launched a new series of bottlings.
The Spirit of Art Limited Edition collection is presented with a particularly elegant look (to which this photo does not really do justice), which on the back offers a reproduction of different works signed by young international artists, in collaboration with the Crag Gallery in Turin.
And I start exploring this collection with a single barrel Ledaig ex-Sherry (which produced 646 bottles), distilled in 2010 and bottled in 2020 after spending just over two years in this barrel (poured from an ex-Bourbon).
The illustration, a portrait of Cubist inspiration, is the work of Giuliano Sale.
Tasting notes
Blood red in the glass.
From such an intense color (and magnificent, thanks to a bicentennial barrel) you would expect a sherried and vinous bomb, while instead the nose is greeted by a warm aroma of barbecue marinated pine cons, juicy and dense, a real torture for vegans. Berries such as blueberries and blackberries caress the nostrils, accompanied by balsamic vinegar, licorice, cloves, thyme, rosemary. Candied fruit. Full-bodied, it doesn’t concede with the passage of time, evoking bloody aromas as blood is its essence.
If on the nose it was completely absent, the gradation enters overbearing on the palate, but it’s only a first assault that soon turns into an essence of ginger and black pepper, very marked, which heralds the reappearance of the fleshy and grilled soul of the distillate, where the toasted appearance becomes more marked and decisive, leaving a trail of smoke throughout the tasting. Oily and dry, it accentuates fruity tones with the addition of dried fruits (figs, dates) and orange (blood orange, ça va sans dire), revealing a bitter tip in length that cleans the mouth and prepares for a new sip. Buckets of seawater.
Long and dry finish, candied fruit and forest, citrus fruits, barbecue, aromatic herbs.
A robust, energetic whisky, which keeps its promises made to the eye with a rich and full experience, throbbing, without compromise.