Wolfburn Aurora

Rating: 7/23 I vaguely recall that this is a young scotch. Like, barely legal. I'm wary, but let's see how it is. N: The nose is surprisingly rich with toasted barley, hay, and a nice nectar sweetness suggesting peaches, pears, and some vanilla. There's a bit of light spice in here as well - ginger mainly, but also some cinnamon and a hint of clove. It suggests that a bourbon barrel was used to age this. The ethanol does come through, but it isn't tainted by other gross alcohols. I honestly can't guess at the age too well from this nose, but it smells more like it was aged for an extended period (perhaps 15 years?) in somewhat tired but still good barrels. The base spirit smells quite nice as well. It's a success to be sure. P: It's a clean palate that starts with more spice and a drier flavor than I'd expected. The clove and ginger really come out more than I'd expected and there's even a hint of turmeric. The palate is a tad on the thin side and less sweet than I'd expected. The spice really burns and it's a tad harsh, but not too much. The roasted barley is there, but it isn't as rich as I'd expected and it lacks depth. I do get a hint of cinnamon, but I also get a lot of peppery harshness as I drink more. Considering the harshness, this is rapidly losing my favor. It's like it's trying to be a Glen Grant that was nicely aged for an extended period in bourbon barrels, but it hasn't succeeded. There's even a slight soapy hint of some bitter alcohol (from the tails, I think) that didn't get aged out entirely. Based on the harshness, lightness, and presence of a tail flavor that tastes immature, I'm guessing that this is a young whiskey crafted predominantly from hearts. The toasted barley is nice, so I'm not entirely sure of its quality. There's a bit of hay with it too. It doesn't have a chalky cereal flavor belying its youth. It is a bit flavorless aside from the toast though, so I suspect this is an attempt to disguise a young whiskey using mild barley and almost exclusively hearts. F: The spice really lingers more than anything else, retaining its pepperiness and also a bit of woodiness for a long time. It's a pretty bland and slightly unpleasant finish. I really liked the nose here and was expecting to be giving this nearly a 15 based on it. Tragically, the palate and finish are not so good. It's harsh, light, and bland. It's not even as flavorful as Pure Scot, though I'd venture that the flavors it does have are more pleasant and better executed. The two have similar degrees of harshness, though this might be a hair less harsh (a hair). I'd say it's a clear win for Wolfburn, but that is not setting a high bar. Sir Edward's 12 is definitely better. This seems like a 7 to 8. A 9 would be seriously pushing it. I think the 7 bucket is most appropriate here. If it were less harsh, it could be an 8 and might even push its way up to a 9. Wait, looking this up, it's aged in sherry barrels?! It tastes nothing like sherry! How did they make the sherry flavor so invisible?! Either this is some light sherry or these were some tired barrels (probably the latter).

Light and clean, Smoke, raisin, vanilla.