It is a bit of a misnomer, because it leads you to believe this whisky matured on sherry casks. That is not the case. It matured on bourbon casks and got a finish on sherry casks from the Bodega Rey Fernando de Castilla (who provide Laddie with all of their sherry casks). The process of finishing is often reffered to as ACEing by Laddie. It is short for Additional Cask Enhanced. Marketing boys and copywriters do love these terms. Anyway, let us give this one a go.
The nose is somewhat atypical for Laddie and not up my alley. I daresay it stinks. I cannot find a lot of influence of the sherry on the nose (bar a touch of oranges and caramel in the background), but feel this whisky is dominated by maritime characteristic (which is good) and stable scents (not so good in this case). Some salted farmer butter, goat cheese, wet hay, sea salt and something that reminds me of yoghurt. Nope, this is not for me.
It is extremely creamy on the palate, but clearly very young. Jumpy and grainy. Alcoholic too, despite the modest ABV. The fruit does not see the light of day and is pushed aside by the less pleasant, sour and bitter flavours.
The finish is medium and salty, with an astringent death.
This is a young and bitter beast, that I do not care for at all. Jan, please drink your own rubbish (just kidding, thanks for the sample, it has been an experience).
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