It seems there are more and more releases coming out under pseudo name and whilst i understand these distilleries may not want to be named by the indie bottlers it does beg the question of why ?
Many of the indies releases whiskies that can be far better than the whisky releases under the official labels. That said i am sure there will be occasions that a whisky is released that just does not sit within the boundaries of that particular distillery / company.
A lot of distilleries stick to a particular style of say fully sherried or heavily sherried with very little use for those Bourbon barrels even though they still fill a quantity each year.
This particular review is of a whisky that fits into this category, Whitlaw is a name given to Highland Park ( well i bloody hope it is ) and it seems this is matured within an ex Bourbon cask, either that or it was an extremely inactive sherry cask !!
Batch 1 – Whitlaw – That Boutiquey Whisky Company
Distillery.. Undisclosed – Highland Park
Region.. Islands
Age.. 15 Years
Abv.. 49.7%
Cask.. Bourbon
Outturn.. 979 X 50cl Bottles
Batch.. 1
Nose.. An initial apple aroma is quickly joined by vanilla, caramel shortbread and ginger biscuits dunked in black coffee.. A faint hint of smoke rises and with it comes a honeyed sweetness.
Palate.. Those apples are joined by poached pear, orange marmalade and a hint of dried fruits. The smoke is more like charred oak smoke and the softest of earthy notes comes through with the spices.
Finish.. Spices mix with earthy notes.
Thoughts.. It is amazing that when you know the distillery you then have an expectation of what you want to taste because of the typical profile released under that banner but although this does carry some Highland Park traits it also feels a long way from home if you know what i mean..
This, if drunk with absolutely no knowledge of its origins becomes very interesting, the flavours are recognisable whilst still different enough to cast doubts as to its origins..
A very interesting release from TBWC..
This sample was taken from the 2021 Boutiquey advent calendar..
ocdwhisky.com 