The third and final ‘Casks of Lindores’ bottling and the final part of my Lindores series. This liquid highlights the Sherry cask process, with the Lindores spirit exclusively aged in Oloroso Sherry butts sourced from Jerez in Spain. N: Deep and stupendously rich. Dates, figs, dark toffee, buttery mocha, berries. Richness, rather than being from toffee and fruits; seems to stem from a darker leathery or tobacco presence. P: Gentle warming fullness. Baking spices, cake batter, dark bitter cocoa and some stewed red fruits. A little orchard fruit and musty to nutty tannins add to the mix. Surprisingly simple and dare I say it; a little bland for a sherry cask. But, as has been the case for the other Lindores, clean and precise. F: Medium. Dark chocolate coated ginger, pot pourris florals, wood spice, and a little berry sweetness. Certainly not a sherry bomb, but the classic sherry characters are here: cocoa, stewed red fruits and some coffees. I had expected something bigger, bolder, and more purposeful. Not the case, this is lighter and gives room for florals on the finish and some richer opulence on the nose. I think the finish takes the win on this one, the florals are exceptional. I get less of the new make spirit in this but see how the sherry cask clearly integrates into the superior multicasking of MCDXCIV. This is the last of the six part series. I’m sad, this has been a wonderful exploration that I wish went deeper. Exciting things are sure to follow from this historic distillery. Distiller whisky taste #185 [Pictured here with a skarn from Aberdeenshire in Scotland featuring red garnet, green epidote and grey-white wollastonite. Skarns are metamorphic rocks formed by hot fluids coming at the contact of intrusive igneous rocks and surrounding country rocks. No idea what the precursor rock to this skarn was but it was likely a calcium-silicate sediment]. New make: 3.25/5
Aqua Vitae Small Batch: 3.5/5 MCDXCIV: 4/5 Bourbon cask: 3.5/5 STR wine barrique cask: 3.5/5 Sherry butt: 3.75