HankeyB
Virginia Distillery Co. Charity Cask
Blended Malt — Virginia, USA
Reviewed
September 10, 2020
Nose: Big hit of alcohol up front. Let it settle for half an hour and the rest comes out: Light honey- maybe honeysuckle. Gardenias? Vanilla.
Palate: Medium-bodied, which is more weight than I expected. Honey and some of the heather you get with a Speyside single-malt. The vanilla intensifies. Fruit that I can't quite identify, like canned fruit cocktail. Dark undertone from the coffee that adds some bitterness. Is coffee char a thing?
Finish: Fairly long and the sweetness in the finish transitions more to coffee char. The whisky develops nicely from nose to finish and grew on me.
Overall: I'm a fan of peated whiskies, but always looking for interesting variations on the charred heft that peat brings (Glendronach 12 is a good example of what I have in mind). This is too mild for any comparison with a heavily-peated whisky, but the coffee finish brings something of what I'm talking about, surprisingly without making the whisky reek of coffee. It's more of a roasted malt than a peated or coffee malt.
Fortunately, this coffee effect just complements the sweetness in the rest of the whisky and there's a nice balance. I was afraid this would taste like flavored whisky or liquor and that's not the case. As usual with this distillery, a couple more years in the barrel might do wonders for a whisky like this (maybe tame the alcohol burn), but it has personality and is worth trying for someone who's looking for something different without taking a big risk.
Bonus points for this being a fundraiser for the distillery's home county. You can find out more on the website https://shop.vadistillery.com/products/charity-cask
68.0
USD
per
Bottle
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review