Deanston 11 Years Old 2004 Distillery Exclusive (60.1%, OB, Amontillado Cask Finish, 2015)

• Category: Highland single malt scotch whisky
• Origin: Deanston Distillery
• Bottling: Official: Distell – Distillery Fill your own
• ABV: 60.1%
• Cost: £80
• Score: 85/100

What they say:

The third fill-your-own offering from Deanston Distillery is another Amontillado Sherry finished cask, this time at 11 years old having a combined maturation of 10 years in an ex-bourbon cask a 12 month finishing in ex-Amontillado. Presented at cask strength of 60.1%.

What I say:

Another ‘visit’ or drop-in to Deanston distillery just before Christmas 2015 – mostly to buy raffle tickets for their festive hamper as usual supporting the local school and community in Deanston village. We managed to sample the 2nd Batch of the Deanston 18 Years Old which has a slightly spicier presentation than the first batch. Also the Ledaig Distillery-Only bottling was available which was a stunning 19 Years Old with heavy PX sherry maturation evident. Finally we purchased both the new Deanston 20 Years Old (review coming soon) and a small sample of this the latest Fill-your-own, another Amontillado finish but a year older than the last fill-your-own 10yo Amontillado finish expression.

Colour:

Pale yellow/straw gold (4/20) medium tears and medium legs

Nose:

Biscuity malt, ginger nuts, citrus lime, chocolate lime sweeties, zesty, peach, apricot, apple, lemon meringue pie, marzipan, banana bread, fresh and grassy, cherry, pineapple fritter in golden syrup.

Taste:

Rich and warming, gingerbread with vanilla cream icing, cinnamon, nutmeg, marzipan, toasted flaked almonds, hazelnut puree, malted milk biscuits, sugared almonds and popping candy, zesty fruits, lime, pineapple, green or cooking (Bramley) apple, chamois leather

Finish:

Long with drying spices, zesty fruits and underlying sweetness

Overall:

Very nice, quite an unusual flavour and aroma to this reminding us of fresh gristy malt straight out of the mill, my only complaint was a little lack of that toffee character I usually associate and love about Deanston, however this expression has a lot going on and gets by without it.