I am now three deep in The Lakes Distillery and at the end of my “The One” mini series. With each pour I am getting more excited for my June visit. I started with the orange cask which I felt lacked its own distinctive character and was somewhat insipid. The Moscatel impressed with vibrancy. Now, the port cask and what should be a fairly hard casking to muck up, I am concerned about the grain content of the blend though and how it will handle the ooomph of a port cask. As appears to be the case for all ’The One’ series there is a blend of grain and malt whisky from the Highlands, Speyside, and Islay with “Lakes Single Malt at its heart”. Here, the blend was casked with first fill Portuguese Tawny casks and Ruby Port casks. Good start. N: Slightly thin to oily. Stewed red fruits and raisin with some oak spice. Over time a more defined fresh cherry and gingery spice come out. Not as punchy as I thought this would be and a little bit of an ethanol sting. The ethanol does seem to carry with it though a promise of peat with just the slightest vegetal smoke. P: Prickly and drying tannic opening. Rich plum, dark chocolate bitterness, wood spice and cinnamon. Light orange spray with nuttiness and plenty of pepper. Very busy and a little overpowered by the pepper. The fruity notes when found are juicy but short lived. F: Medium. Lingering pepper, dark cherry (like a Dr Pepper or cherry coke) Should have put this second and finished The One series with the Moscatel. In a word: pepper. This is a port cask, and the nose gave me an impression that some good red fruits and nice bakery spice notes would be lurking about, but sadly they are hard work to find amidst a storm of pepper. I get the distinct feeling that these The One blends are too internally conflicted. Excellent cask choices have not made up for the plain base spirits to perhaps muted effect of the grain component. I’m perhaps being harsh, but there are a plethora of better port finished liquids out there, not least of all my current stand out, the Arran Port NAS. Heres to hoping the Lakes Makers Series offers redemption… [Pictured here with an Andalusite Slate with origins dating back around 500 million years. A quintessential metamorphic rock for the Lake District, hailing from Skiddaw just across Bassenthwaite Lake from the Distillery] Distiller whisky taste #127