Bimber The First Single Malt

Nose: Raisins, Apricots, Pineapple, Cherries, Date Syrup, Milk Chocolate, Green Apple, Sourdough, Toffee, Mango, Citrus, Plums, Flowers, Honey, Vanilla, Jolly Ranchers Watermelon Palate: Plums, Toffee, Milk Chocolate, Cinnamon, Red Apple, Pepper, Ginger, Orange, Cherries, Sourdough Rye Bread, Christmas Cake Finish: Chocolate, Dates, Raisins, Dried Fruit, Cherries, Maple, Cloves, Baking Spices, Oranges, Christmas Cake Bimber and Sherry go very well together.

Wow...for a 3 yr old newbie, these guys hit it out of the park. This is a new English distillery, and unlike their brethren up north of the Hadrian Wall, they are not owned by major corporations with legions of marketers and accountants. These guys, and I’ll throw Cotswold and Lakes in there as well, are smaller, without sexy backstories, or laurels to rest on. Which means they need to have the liquid speak for itself. Quality is front and center. Case and point: Bimber doesn’t mill their grain. They crush it, which preserves the husks. Harder...but more flavorful. The grain is from one farm only. Fermentation is long...7 days. I could go on...but you get the point. I’ve made it a recent point to go through my bucket load of samples before opening new bottles...and that brings me to this sample I bought from TWE. So, on to the tasting: Normally, I don’t comment on color. But considering this is no-coloring added, and only 3 years old, it has a remarkable mahogany color. Like a bourbon. The nose isn’t as much a sherry bomb as I would’ve imagined. It’s lighter. Apricot and peaches. Taste: this is where it shines. Thick and oily. Coffee, espresso, hazelnuts. The PX comes through with a sweetness. For those of you who scored one of the 1000 bottles at the retail $120...lucky you. Open it and share it. For those that didn’t get it, if you’re ordering from TWE, they still have 3cl samples. Trying something new this year—- So: this marks the end of one month. For January—I’ve had: Bimber First Barrell Batch 19 That Boutiquey Bourbon 24yr old Barrell private selection rum J553 Lusty Claw bourbon Virginia Distillery rum cask Lagavulin Offerman 11yr old Port Dundas 28 yr old JW Ghost and Rare Brora Benriach Albariza 20yr HW Midwinter 7 Best of the month: JW Rare / Ghost Brora Worst: Lusty Claw bourbon Best VFM: Lagavulin Offerman (at $60 here in NJ )

The whisky in my glass comes from a set of six samples you can buy from Bimber in London and while it isn’t identified as being exactly the whisky in this bottle, it does share the same PX-cask heritage and is bottled at the same strength of 54.2%. Only the words “Test Batch” on the label suggest it might not be identical, but let’s assume it’s close enough to warrant a review here rather than under a separate entry. At any rate, it’s excellent, consistent from nose to finish with a distinct milk chocolate profile and tasting nothing like a typical young spirit blasted with an overpowering sherry cask. In addition to creamy chocolate, the nose is milky toffee, butterscotch, salted caramel ice cream and nutmeg. Those flavors continue in the mouth, with the addition of cinnamon, chocolate Bourbon biscuits and coffee. The aftertaste is like licking a bowl of the aforementioned ice-cream - yum! For a three-year-old whisky, this is quite an achievement, and even if the flavor profile is ultimately a little narrow, it’s less so than many a much older sherry cask from a more established distillery. A debut that swaggers with the confidence of an East End barrow boy.