Deanston 18 Year Old Batch 1

Deanston used to be a cotton factory until 1966. Until 1971 they put Old Bannockburn on their label. Only after the distillery was taken over by Invergordon, in 1972, did they change it to Deanston. In 1982 it was closed, but in 1990 Burn Stewart Distillers Ltd gave it a second lease on life. Only 15% of the production is meant for single malt, the rest goes into blends with Scottish Leader as the main one. These single malt release – Bourbon Cask Finish – was launched in 2015. It matured on ex-bourbon casks and then got a finish on first fill casks from Kentucky.

On the nose, I get mildly burnt sugar (not quite caramel) with of sugared almonds and coconut. Quite some honey. The whole is a bit dusty, like sitting in the attic. Sunflower oil, hint of café latte. The fruit is kept under wraps for a long time, but finally some papaya and mostly mango reveal themselves. Not unpleasant.

The arrival is soft, mildly spicy with a bit bitter note. Grapefruit, orange zest, ginger and a hint of chocolate. Mango juice. Toasted bread. Breakfast cereals. All of this drenched in honey.

Fairly long finish on orange peel and ginger.

This is almost complex. But just a tad too bitter to be very good. Around 100 EUR.

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