Belgrove Rye Whisky Cask Strength Heartwood "Any Port on a Storm"

Nose: Bright, mineral-laced, ashy smoke, baking spices, a touch of mint. There is an earthy tobacco-like note and stone fruits as well – like apricots stewed with cinnamon and clove. The alcohol is noticeable (there is a definite "nip") and the nose is very tight when it is neat. A dash of water expands the sweet aromas and tones down the spice just a touch. Some pineapple is apparent after the whisky has had a chance to stand and open and there is a strong aroma reminiscent of mezcal or tequila. Palate: Fruity and spicy on the arrival, with sweet cereal notes. Spices emerge boldly on the development with caraway, dill seed, powdered ginger and allspice detectable. There is a presence like toasted rye bread and again that sense of mezcal that is so often in Belgrove rye whisky. The texture is rich and oily, with a satisfying heaviness. There is a little heat but this is not surprising given the high proof. Finish: Long. Hot spices and cereal, tailing out to an earthy aftertaste with a touch of honey and pineapple. An excellent whisky that is, like all Belgrove ryes, identifiable as rye spirit but not quite like that produced anywhere else. It has the same light, fresh crispness as the standard 100% rye expression (which is at 44-46%), but there is more body and complexity here. Belgrove Distillery is small scale and extremely artisan in approach. They produce only in small batches and expressions such as this are of limited availability (for more notes about the distillery and Peter Bignall see my review of “Belgrove Rye Whisky”). Peter follows an unusual regime when making his whiskies by not fully drying the malted rye before grinding, and it is only because he produces on such a small scale and in batches that this is possible. The grinding is done in an old table-mounted, hand cranked meat mincer (!!!). He allows the moist grist to ferment in the open air so it can be influenced by wild yeasts (but also adds commercial yeast) and fermentation is allowed to run into the secondary lacto-bacillus phase and then cease naturally. This approach decreases alcohol content but maximises flavour complexity. The wash is then distilled in his home-made direct-fired pot still that is fueled with waste cooking oil from a nearby fish and chip shop. This batch was matured in a barrel obtained from Heartwood independent bottlers. This cask was originally an ex-port barrel which had then been used to mature Heartwood’s “Any Port in a Storm” blended malt whisky. The final result was bottled on 23 December 2019. This was the second of five Belgrove whiskies I tasted at the 2021 Sydney Whisky Show, and was my tasting #21 of the day. “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars) P.S. Please note two small errors in the listing details: It should read “Any Port in a Storm” not “Any Port on a Storm”, and the distillery is located at Kempton, not Kimpton. Thanks, auto-spell 😡