The One Port Cask Finish (46.6%, OB, 2019)

• ABV: 46.6%
• Age: NAS
• Bottling: OB
• Category: English & Scotch blended whisky
• Cost: £47.95
• Origin: The Lakes Distillery
• Vintage: undeclared

What they say

This release of The One is a singular blend of The Lakes Single Malt and select Scotch grain and malt whiskies. This blend was finished for one year in first-fill Tawny Port Casks from Portugal, personally sourced by our whiskymaker, Dhavall Gandhi.

Full-bodied and smoky with ripe cherries and plums on the nose leading to hints of nutmeg and black pepper with a long, warming finish.

Non-chill filtered for a richer mouthfeel and fuller flavour, with only the natural colours derived from our oak casks in every bottle. Bottled at 46.6% ABV.

Official tasting notes:

• Nose: STONE FRUIT, CHERRIES, GENTLE SPICE, RIPE PLUMS, WOOD-SMOKE.
• Palate: FULL BODIED AND SMOKY WITH RIPE CHERRIES AND PLUMS, LEADING TO HINTS OF NUTMEG AND BLACK PEPPER.
• Finish: LONG AND WARMING. SMOKY WITH  A LAYER OF CHERRY AND PLUMS.

What I say

The new/reworked The One Signature blend with an additional Port Cask finish using Tawny Port Casks for a full year of maturation.

This post was sponsored by The Lakes Distillery by provision of a sample of this product.

My tasting notes:

• Appearance: White Burgundy (6/20), slow-forming, medium tears, finer legs.
• Nose: Smoky, radiator, warm bathtub, rubber, bouncy! slightly green wood smoke, pine and cedar, sappy.
• Taste: Strawberry essence, oily and buttery, sweet and jammy forest fruits then moves into flapjacks in syrup
• Finish: Long, black pepper spice and sweet red fruits on granary toast

Overall

Sweet and smoky but with a rather odd rubbery and metallic edge to it, reminds me of some of the more unusual Tobermory offerings from e.g. SMWS and although not displeasing it isn’t really ticking the right boxes for me. I like my port-finishes to ooze jammy sweetness. This is much more reserved than that, maybe in an attempt to preserve the blend profile – I wish it had gone a little further.

Score 80/100

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