pkingmartin
Deanston 2002 17 years old organic px finish
Single Malt — Highland, Scotland
Reviewed
December 11, 2021 (edited September 16, 2022)
This 2002 vintage has been aged for 17 years, 14 years spent in a refill oak and then finished for the last three years in Pedro Ximénez casks then bottled at 49.3%.
The nose starts with a sour and sweet mix of gooseberry and sherry followed by chocolate covered raisins then pithy fruit of orange and lemon then light sulfur that transitions to spices of ginger, cloves and reclaimed driftwood with medium ethanol burn.
The taste is a thin mouthfeel starting sweet with chopped apples and mandarin oranges followed by chocolate covered raisins then pithy fruit of grapefruit and lemon that then veers to a medium tannic and drying spice that slowly fades black pepper, ginger root, cloves and soggy drift wood with medium ethanol burn.
The finish is short with grapefruit pith, sour apple, dark chocolate, ginger root, burnt yet still smoking cloves, and ashy oak.
This is terrible from start to finish with notes of sour, sulfur, pithy fruit melody and water logged oak on the nose that the taste manages to show some promise with some nice fruit flavors before bitter pith fruit and a tannic drying spice invade that finishes drying, sour and tannic.
The only thing left to do with this pour is determine how to dispose of it because I’m certainly not finishing this sample and after some thought, I determined the best disposal of this will be a winning prize carnival goldfish style funeral with me saying goodbye to this overpriced sour whiskey as it swirls down the drain.
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A light spirit having and sulphur at 17 YO is pretty inexcusable.
@PBMichiganWolverine Yeah seems like a lighter spirit good for blends but not really for single malts. @soonershrink I’ll have to get a sample of the 12 to check out now.
@pkingmartin I liked the 12 year, but wasn't as fond of the Virgin Oak.
@pkingmartin i’ve never been fond of Deanston either; seems like more suited towards blends, but they’ve been trying to compete strongly in the single malt space with these new finishes
@soonershrink Definitely a disappointment. This was my first experience with Deanston which seemed promising until I opened the sample. Then all hope was lost.
That's disappointing.