Origin: Lowlands (Scotland)
Type: Single Grain Scotch Whisky
Strength: 50.3%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Sherry PX
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Brave New Spirits
Average price: € 80.00
Official website: www.bravenewspirits.com
I return to the Scottish bottler’s superheroes with a single grain whose label features a cross between Cable and Colossus from the X-Men, with an imperious ‘grain power’.
Single hogshead ex first-fill Sherry PX, which produced 296 cask strength bottles from the Diageo Group distillery in early 2024.
Tasting Notes
A lot of acidity on the nose, between wine vinegar and copper coin, which takes a while to settle down and give way to the other aromas, which in any case share the same environment: red fruits (currants, raspberries, wild strawberries), spices (cinnamon, cumin), sour cherries in alcohol, brown sugar. With patience, a softer, warmer side also emerges, diminished in white chocolate, sweet liquorice, condensed milk, but always in the minority. Red orange and unripe plum in the background. Certainly not shy.
On the palate, it loses its metallic side in favour of a prosopopeia of red fruits and spices, lining up the ABCs of sherry maturation, while retaining just a hint of acetone (especially along the length), a reminder of being with a grain in the glass. Nutmeg and cinnamon envelop plums, currants, raspberries, black cherries and blood orange in the foreground, supported by chocolate, coffee and liquorice, and backed by nuts (pecans, almonds) and balsamic vinegar. Some planty notes in the background, between aromatic herbs (thyme, rosemary) and a forgotten green tea infusion. Rather volatile in body.
Quite long and spicy finish with red fruits, coffee, chocolate, herbs, acid and metallic tones.
At times you forget that you are drinking a grain whisky, although the lack of substance is a fairly obvious reminder, and all in all it is a good sherried, with touches bordering on excess, while maintaining a substantial balance.