Strathisla 16 year 2006/2022 Cognac Butt Finish Distillery Exclusive

We made a quick stop to make our own Chivas Regal Blend at their Speyside home, the beautiful Strathisla Distillery, and one of the best things i got out of there was a very rare 16yo Expression, finished in a Cognac Butt. This was the bottle 515 of only 840, distilled on february 9, 2006; and bottled on december 1st, 2022. The strength of it is a lovely 54.4%abv. On the nose, quite complex; Peaches & sawdust, Vanilla meringue sweets, marshmallow. Tobacco & peaches. A rounded coffee with toffee flavor. Pineapple y dulce de leche. Toffee & grass. Wonderful. On the palate, Tobacco, grass, toffee, pineapple. Sugary. Very grassy. Hay. Aftertaste is all about Peaches. Salty y sugary. Overall, this was a very interesting surprise from Strathisla, which in previous expressions i have felt that it was overly nutty. The higher abv truly benefited this dram. My score for it is 90 over a 100.

Strathisla Distillery post-tour tasting, 1st May 2024, whisky#3 Nose: Chocolate pudding, malted milk, grape jelly, honey, caramel sauce, vanilla, cinnamon, tropical fruit juice concentrate. Palate: Sweet arrival with grapes, raisins and dark chocolate being the main flavours. In the development there was toffee, prunes and coffee with a resurgence of grape and fortified wine in the late palate. The texture was oily. Finish: Medium/Long. Sweet grapes, raisins, hazelnuts and a pinch of mixed spices leading into a dry aftertaste. This distillery exclusive expression was distilled and filled into ex-bourbon barrels on February 9th, 2006. It was matured for most of its 16 years in those casks before being re-racked into one ex-cognac butt. This was discharged on December 1st, 2022 and produced 840 half-litre bottles of which my tasting was from bottle 753. The whisky was not chill-filtered and although I cannot say for certain that it was uncoloured, I think that was the case. A very fine whisky that showcases good cognac cask finishing, the cognac heritage being just discernable but at no time taking centre stage or overturning the malty heart of the whisky. It is opulently sweet and rich when neat but adding water added a touch of ginger and allspice that provided excellent balance. I preferred it with slight dilution. When declaring our favourite drams of the tasting our group of 8 were split between this and the distillery exclusive 15 year old (also reviewed here). I thought they were equally delightful, but if forced to choose I’d go for the 15 year old. Like the 15 year old this was a cellar door exclusive but I don’t think it is still available. “Very good” : 86/100 (4 stars)