Origin: Speyside (Scozia)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 54.1%ABV
Ageing cask: Finished in ex-red wine
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Chorlton Whisky
Average price: € 90,00
Official website: pintailwinesandspirits.co.uk
Vote: 88/100
The newest independent bottler to be added to the blog (how do you keep up with everyone out there??), The Whisky Cellar is the brainchild of Keith Bonnington, who has built up his knowledge in a career spanning some twenty years at Edrington Group (which counts names such as The Macallan and Highland Park in its portfolio), and was awarded the prestigious ‘Keeper of the Quaich’ in 2013.
Based in Edinburgh, it presents its main line, which I will talk about in a later piece, plus several collateral labels that recover old glories from Scottish history.
Pintail (named after a duck species) was a label founded in the 1930s by Perth wine and spirits merchants Matthew Gloag & Son, who are now part (coincidentally) of the Edrington Group, founders of another well-known label, The Famous Grouse (birds were indeed a constant).
To date there are about ten bottlings, divided between single malts and blends but also rum, port and brandy, and having to choose where to start discovering them, I could only pic my personal fetish, Glen Elgin.
Initially undisclosed maturation with unspecified finishing in a barrique of Floc de Gascogne Rouge, a French fortified red wine, two parts of which are made from partially fermented Tannat and Cabernet Sauvignon grape juice and one part from Armagnac. 298 bottles were produced.
Tasting notes
The notes on the nose begin with acacia honey and intense wax, steeped in currant and raspberry juice, pink grapefruit, lemon tart, slight spicy touches (cinnamon, nutmeg) and a mineral vein in the background. More evident vinosity over time, prunes and polished wood are added, with a perfectly held gradation. Very fresh and lively.
The wax also returns decisively to the palate, declined in the sealing type, the spicy compartment rises with the addition of black pepper and paprika, while the fruity part becomes darker, of blackberries, plums, sour cherries and sultanas. Flowers (violet, jasmine), strawberry jam, lemon zest, with the mineral part becoming sulphurous, almost smoky.
Quite long finish of red fruits, polished wood, light spices, leather and sulphur.
A very pleasant and refreshing dram, with a centred and flawless cask strength. Notwithstanding my personal preference for the distillery, the handling of a not exactly easy cask is masterful.
If you love Glen Elgin, don’t miss it.