Thompson Saison cask single cask

Smells and looks good. Wine finish interesting

Well, its Thanksgiving eve. Time for a sample and the traditional viewing of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Maybe I should be sampling a bourbon instead of a New Zealander. Anyway…. N: A yeasty, berried nose. Well-baked cranberry bread with a pinch of cinnamon, vanilla, honey. Straightforward, simple nose but rich and tangible. P: A creamy, cinnamon spiced entry greets the palate. Similar to the nose, baked cranberry bread, vanilla and honey. A bit of a black pepper bite with a dark chocolate sweetener. F: A medium length finish that is slightly drying and woody that fades with the same dark chocolate mocha and a peppery tingle. O: A decent sipper with slightly limited nose and palate. But the few notes and flavors it holds, it delivers. Sips easy for a 53.4% abv whiskey. Thanks @PbMichiganWolverine for the generous New Zealander sample. [86/100][Tasted: 11/22/23]

For our quarterly virtual tasting with @PBMichiganWolverine , @ctbeck11 , @Richard-ModernDrinking and @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington , @PBMichiganWolverine was kind enough to treat us to a round the world assortment of drams. First was a single cask IB 14 year Tamdhu (Scotland) Second was the 2022 Chichibu Peated Edition (Japan) Third was the Chattanooga Islay Finish (America) that was bottled at 47.5% ABV. I believe fourth was this Thomson Saison Yeast Cask #39 (New Zealand) that was bottled at 53.4% ABV. The nose starts rich and malty followed by light sour red berries and ever so slight oak spice with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with mildly sour red berries that quickly veers towards a slight peppery spice before creamy malty notes appear along with light coffee followed by mildly sour citrus and red berries that transitions to mild baking spices with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length starting with a creamy and sour mix of citrus and red berries that fades to the background of rich malt and chocolate covered espresso beans. Overall, a really unique dram that reminds me of an enjoyable red ale without the carbonation and a much higher ABV. I’m thrilled to see New Zealand finally having some quality whisky being produced there and I think this is well worth the cost of $70 for a different style of dram.

Enjoying a sample courtesy of @PBMichiganWolverine. Tasted neat from a NEAT glass after a bit of rest. The nose has a bit of vanilla and caramelized sugar, but that's in the background. Up front this is dry grass, almond, and ghosts of young, green fruit like immature grapes. Interesting. On the palate I'm struck by the silky mouthfeel. There's more sweetness in the palate than the nose suggests. Caraway and dark chocolate notes emerge after an initial burst of sweet, dark raisins and a molasses-like note that's far more dry than that syrup, but has the dark elements of that taste profile. The finish is relatively quick and there's a bit of sweet and bitter that hang around for a few long seconds after the swallow. Very interesting whiskey. I'm reminded of Koval millet whiskey here, only with much less spice and greater richness. This is worth exploring if you find a bottle.

Whats not to like about New Zealand? Gorgeous country with fjords, mountains , beaches, geothermal activity, and of course…Hobbits. But where they were always lacking was in whiskey. Yes…amazing pinot noir wines, but whiskey? Not so much. Sure they had rhe ghosted Dunedin distillery, but honestky, I felt those were too wine driven or weak. Until this one comes along. This is a TWE picked single cask. TWE picks are generally very good—-they have immense buying power and sway. Aromas of Christmas mulled wine ( too bad its June and 80 degrees F here ). Taste of oak, cherries , nutmeg. Really well crafted and solid pick from TWE.