Oxhead Whisky despatched us samples of a few current bottlings. It’s fairly laborious to seek out details about this Singapore-based bottler (on the time of writing I can’t appear to entry their web site), however they appear to have good style.
We begin wih a Blended Scotch, which accommodates 70% malt whisky and 30% grain. A cryptic message that accompanied the pattern signifies it accommodates Bunnahabhain, Glenlivet, Highland Park, Macallan and Glenrothes, together with Invergordon and North British. I count on this to come back from the identical batch of casks that gave us the Maiden’s Mix releases.
Blended Scotch 26 yo (44,9%, Oxhead Whisky ‘Dram-Addicts’ 2024, sherry butt #117359, 286 btl.)
Nostril: fruit cake and hints of vanilla pastry, with delicate hints of chocolate and nougat. Will get more and more extra fruity over time, with tangerines, gentle cherries, plums and bananas. Raisins too, clearly. Then additionally a refined trace of oak polish. Very elegant.
Mouth: nonetheless a vivid fruity core, with extra oranges, tangerines, berries and quince jelly. Natural honey, in addition to some ginger and baking spice. Walnut cake, a bit vanilla and gingerbread, hints of biscuits, in addition to some coppery notes. Trace of tea, which regularly evolve in the direction of chilly espresso. Hardly any grainy notes by the best way.
End: lengthy, extra leafy now. Nonetheless oranges and delicate baking spice. Now there’s a barely sharpness of the grain parts.
A very stunning mix, providing depth, properly fruity sherry and excessive drinkability. It doesn’t really feel blend-like both, making this an ideal each day dram.
The following one is an undisclosed Speyside malt, however the label design doesn’t go away any doubt as to the distillery.
Speyside Single Malt 21 yo (55,3%, Oxhead Whisky 2024, Oloroso hogshead #4593, 195 btl.)
Nostril: pretty juicy sherry once more, on oranges, sultanas, mirabelles and even a touch of mango. Wee hints of marmalade, lime and mead, together with stunning furnishings polish. Then only a trace of coconut and baked apple, in addition to a biscuity trace.
Mouth: gentle and clear. Loads of oranges now, evolving in the direction of grapefruit and cooked apple, together with inexperienced melon and lemon curd. Hints of muesli and ale, in addition to anise. In the long run some walnut, gentle tobacco and orange cordial comes out.
End: medium to lengthy, bittersweet, with oranges within the lead. Mild mint and greener oak seems late.
Very stable whisky, consistent with among the middle-aged Household Casks. Solely in the direction of the end there’s a youthful, greener aspect that seems, reducing the complexity. Rating: 88/100
Caol Ila 14 yo 2008 (55,3%, Oxhead Whisky ‘Spirit Drugs’ 2023, hogshead #322483)
Nostril: olive oil and loads of sunflower oil. Some vegetal and savoury notes, brine, oysters and a great dose of bonfire ashes. Then inexperienced apple (browning), whiffs of bandages and just a bit porridge. Sesame seeds and scorched lemons as properly.
Mouth: uncooked peat smoke, blended with brine and lemons. The basic parts of Coal Ila, proper? There’s a pleasant waxy texture, together with sea shells, almonds and black peppercorns. Nonetheless a vegetal undertone.
End: lengthy, smoky and briny, with a fizzy contact, vegetal oils and dried grass.
Nothing groundbreaking right here, only a very positive, typical Caol Ila with an above-average weight and a deal with vegetal oils. Rating: 87/100
