Deanston Virgin Oak

The reviewed bottle is owned by @Maddie, is 95% full, and has been open for 3 years-- yeah, my sister has a lot of bottles of whisky open in her house. Deanston Virgin Oak has no age statement and is not chill-filtered. I have sampled this whisky previously on several other occasions over several years as well at the current time

Nose: medium and high-pitched sharply edged barley flavours, showing prominent lemon citrus. The barley shows both grassy and cereal qualities. New wood flavours are light and restricted to a little vanilla and a trace of natural caramel. Water added raises the pitch and melds the flavours in a very attractive way. I prefer the nose of this long opened bottle with a little water added. Score: 22/25

Taste: the nose flavours translate well to the palate. The new oak influence remains light, but it does show more on the palate than it does on the nose. Water added bundles the flavours. Score: 21/25

Finish: this old bottle goes sour late. I remember it being better balanced in the earlier stages of the bottle being opened. Water added continues the water-added bundled palatal flavours. Score: 20/25

Balance: very good in the nose; good balance thereafter. Score: 21/25

Total Sequential Score: 84/100 points

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Strength: very good strength of flavours, despite this being simple barley whisky. Score: 22/25

Quality: nice barley flavours with a touch of oak. Score: 21.5/25

Variety: adequate variety for a basic barley-flavoured whisky. Score: 21/25

Harmony: good harmony in general for a very basic barley-malt whisky. Score: 21/25

Total Non-Sequential Score: 85.5/100 points

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Comment: Deanston Virgin Oak has to be either a new oak finish or aging in toasted and not charred new oak barrels. Complete aging in new charred oak barrels for even 5 years would have resulted in much much more oak influence than is encountered here

I have always liked Deanston Virgin Oak, though this old bottle is not as good now as it was when first opened. When first opened I would have rated this maybe 2 points higher than I do now

Find where to buy Deanston whisky