Origin: Highlands (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Gradation: 46.3%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and Virgin oak
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Distell Group Ltd.
Average price: € 35.00
Official website: www.deanstonmalt.com
Vote: 85/100
The second of the Highlands distillery’s basic whiskies, it joins the 12-year-old with an unspecified ageing in ex-Bourbon casks (from a family-run cooperage in Kentucky, to use their own words), refined in virgin oak casks.
This is probably a young whisky, which on top of the well-known aromas given by the influence of Bourbon takes the risk of adding the strong characteristics of virgin wood: a gamble that sometimes succeeds, sometimes not.
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Tasting notes
On the nose, wood spices enters, with nutmeg and resin embracing impressions of vanilla, banana, apple, caramel, acacia honey, leather, cereals. Almond biscuits. Pleasant and quite balanced.
Full-bodied on the palate, it recovers the spicy notes even if less pronounced than on the nose, with a bitter streak that softens the sweetness of the woods. Yellow fruit (melon, apple, peach) and nuts become more present, accompanied by vanilla, candyfloss and a hint of orange peel and tobacco. Impression of smoke over distance.
Medium-long finish of cereal, nuts, sugar paste and puff of smoke.
A pleasant whisky, quite varied in its evolution despite its simplicity, especially considering the very cheap price it offers a good daily dram experience.