Style: Sherry and Smoky
Nose:
Begins with a sweet and forthcoming aroma. Strawberries, fig jam, raisins and other sherry notes putting up a dazzling array of red fruits. Five spices and cinnamon stick lightly torched, a faint hint of flint stone, black pepper, lavender and tropical fruits jelly all meld together to form an inner layer, creating a beautiful depth. Hay smoke reeling, sea waves beckoning towards the end, a calm and wonderful aroma.
Palate:
The assorted red fruits slowly narrowing down to dark digs and strawberry jam to form a nice albeit slightly more one-dimensional sherry crust. Followed by summer berries, especially blue berries, are served with torched cinnamon and chilli spice. Black pepper scattered around while tropical fruits moving gingerly, finishes with a quick stir of barley sugar, oak and mineral touches.
Finish:
A relatively dry finish when you have such a sherry-licious nose and palate. The oak takes over, carrying some bitterness as well as touches of lime stones, while faint red fruits staying at the back which unwinds slowly overtime.
Thoughts:
For those who are not familiar, Scoma is a German spirits retail shop and also does independent bottlings. A sherried Springbank we have here, while the nose is incredibly promising (maybe too much so), unfortunately it cannot keep up the momentum, with the palate lacking a bit of substance and depth to make this good whisky great. Nonetheless, who doesn’t like a whisky which tastes like smoky strawberry jam? A nice, composed dram. Very close to two stars.
☆ [Recommended]
[52.7% | Independent Bottling | Single Cask | 1993 Distilled | 2018 Bottled | Cask Strength | Cask Number: 14 | 300 Bottles | *+]
-Esmond
