Uncharted Whisky Co. Come as you are - 11yo Darlymple "Teaspooned" Malt Whisky - Oloroso Sherry Cask (70cl, 55.0%)

 First-fill oloroso sherry cask maturation… what is not to love?

 

Distilled in July of 2012, this stunning not so single malt has soaked in sumptuous sherry wood for all it’s life. A fantastic spirit born of the Ayrshire coast, this is oft referred to in the indy whisky world as ‘Dalrymple’. This is a title given to the spirit by the distillery, taken from the distillery’s  local village. The single malt produced closest to the village of Dalrymple’s is the stunning Ailsa Bay. This is a glass of butterscotch, clootie dumpling and sticky toffee pudding drowned in melting vanilla ice cream, served at cask strength with  a natural colour as dark as stewed tea.

Well… A long winded answer beckons. Some distilleries subscribe to a practise of ‘tea-spooning’ – the act of apparently adding a “tea-spoon” of another malt to the vat of Ailsa Bay single malt. This, by technicality alone, makes the whisky a blended malt while retaining the characteristics and qualities of the original single malt. So why would they do it? This process allows them to sell their distillate to other blenders and the independent whisky world but prevents us indy whisky guys from using the distillery name. However, this removal of transparency is partially circumvented by the distillery by giving the distillate a name that ensures that everybody knows the origins of the whisky i.e. Dalrymple.

A good question however, might be; ‘Did the tea-spoon ever get added?‘. Paperwork often doesn’t appear to say so but we must take it on good faith that it was.

This is a fantastic example of a fantastic whisky. Ailsa Bay Single Malt as several fond memories for Dana and I. It was readily available in the airport when we were first coupling up despite her studying in the Netherlands and I was living and working in Scotland. It made for many a great night in those days and we are delighted to finally bottle a single cask we can be proud of, tea-spoon or not.

Nose

Sticky Toffee Pudding, Raisin Bread, dried apricots, trail mix, Pepsi and all the classics of a sherry bomb.

Palate

Rounded and rich butterscotch, melted vanilla ice cream, bags of sweet pastries, oak and clootie dumpling

Finish

Unctuous sweetness floats around for ever. Butterscotch abounds mingled with cloves, cinnamon and iced Danish pastry.