Origin: Drogheda (Ireland)
Type: Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Strength: 60.33%
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon, finished in ex-Recioto wine
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Astrolabio
Price: € 175.00 on Astrolabio
Official webiste: www.astrolabiospirits.com
The panorama of Italian whisky is enriched by another independent bottler who, although they have only recently appeared on the market, have long been dedicated to the selection of distillates for Italy.
In fact, David and Filippo’s project unfolds between grappa, rum and whisky, with a common thread: the Italian character expressed by the casks.
In direct contact with the distilleries, Astrolabio wants to emphasise the finishing in casks of Italian wine, in particular from Veneto (the region of the two founders), personally selecting the woods that are then sent to the distilleries for ageing, between finishing and full maturation.
A lot of ambition and love for wine, for distillates and for our land, in an activity that, as they themselves say, goes far beyond the “simple” independent bottling, aiming at offering experiences always linked to the world of spirits.
At the moment there are two bottles on offer: a Barbados rum finished in Amarone and this Irish single malt produced by Boann for the Whistler series, first matured in an ex-Bourbon cask and then finished for 31 months in a Recioto della Valpolicella cask to complete a total of seven years.
Tasting Notes
The nose opens with dark notes of cocoa beans, sweet liquorice, dried pistachios and figs with almonds, caressed by spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves) and toasted wood, which gradually give way to pastry (lemon cream, maraschino sponge cake) and fruit (cooked apple, pineapple in syrup, ripe kiwi). Strawberry jam and sultanas form the background, with faint notes of pear and aniseed, alcohol is completely absent. In time, the fruit and cream dominate, in a rather mouth-watering weave. Intense.
On the palate, wine leads the evocations, bringing along red fruits (blueberries, blackberries, currants), prunes and dried figs, liquorice. The monopoly is short-lived, the olfactory aromas soon emerge, led by cocoa and nuts, with a good dose of spices, along with baked apple, short pastry and a hint of panettone with candied fruit. Background of butter biscuits, malt and Turkish coffee.
Quite long finish, warm and enveloping, of spices, nuts, cocoa, coffee, red fruit jam, wood.
The maturation in wine has really been pushed to the limit, a little more time might have upset the balance, but this way it manages to give a pleasant three-dimensionality to an undoubtedly young but full-bodied whiskey, where the cask enhances the personality without covering it up.
Vote: 87/100