It is Day 16 and Speyside is once again our destination..
Strathmill is another distillery owned by Diageo and with most of the whisky produced going into blends like J & B .
The distillery itself is one that is mostly closed to the public and with bottlings of single malt very rarely available it’s no wonder the distillery is not talked about too much..
Founded back in 1891 the distillery used a former mill as its base that dated back to 1823, originally called Glenisla- Glenlivet Distillery it wasn’t until 1895 when W & A Gilbert ( A Gin Company ) That the name changed to Strathmill..
Todays review is again from the award winning independent bottler That Boutiquey Whisky Company and comes in the form of this Strathmill single malt 11 year old, batch 5 which has an outturn of 702 bottles.. The Abv is 51.1% and is of course natural colour and NCF..
Nose.. Fresh and floral at first, the more you Nose it the more you think of damp grass notes, early morning dew on heavily laden blossom trees, Flowers in bloom and bees busy making honey..
Palate.. An instant hit of treacle but it fades almost as fast as it comes in, the spices then hit with a touch of ginger and cinnamon and a little lemon peel bitterness..
Finish.. Peppery with a twist of sweetness..
Thoughts.. I have never known a flavour come and go as consistent as the treacle note on the first sip.. It takes a few sips to realise what it is but it just disappears instantly, unlike yesterday ( day 15 – Inchgower 14 year old review) today is more of a milder day and this dram just about fits..
It is still a lighter body and the nose is certainly a delicate one but it has got my attention.. The fresh, floral side is very reminiscent of a lowland dram which is no bad thing when you love the lowland style !!
So where does this dram fit, well again like the Inchgower it is a perfect spring / summer type of whisky but it also doubles up as one of those drams that is a perfect “breakfast” style dram or the first of an evening if the initial term upsets you..
This Strathmill 11 year old, batch 5 from That Boutiquey Whisky Company is available from Master of Malt for £39.95..
As many of you already know the labels designed by Emily Chappell are generally an indication of what you might expect but if like me you are not good at working the clues out then this one might also baffle you but as I’ve learned it’s a reference to Goldilocks and the 3 stills ( 3 bears ) although there are 4 stills at the distillery the picture only shows 3, the reference is therefore a jump back in time as the mill was apparently a oats mill for making porridge!! And the gin reference is obviously to the company who bought it and changed the name to Strathmill.. Damn those people at Boutiquey headquarters like to be cryptic…
ocdwhisky.com 