When you take the time and effort to create an organic whisky, why wouldn’t you then also take some time and effort to share more information about it? There’s barely anything on the Deanston 15 Years Old Organic on their website. Sorry, but that’s just dumb.
After some googling, I did find a press release that was send out when this was launched last year. It gives a bit more information. It is certified organic by the Organic Food Federation. More surprisingly, this has apparently spent fifteen (!) years in new oak casks.
Granted, I may not have expert knowledge of wood maturation, but that is a very long time. Probably too long. New oak is often used as a synonym for virgin oak, but since Deanston also has a Virgin Oak expression, I wondered if they may mean something else by it.
So I asked, and apparently new oak means exactly what you think it would mean. I wonder if the spirit has survived this onslaught of hungry, fresh wood.
Deanston 15 Years Old Organic (46,3%, OB, 2017)
Nose: Creamy with sour apples and lime, with a touch of oak. Slightly metallic (copper coins), which I could do without. A hint of beeswax and melted butter. Very crisp.
Taste: More fresh apples, but also sugary breakfast cereals and vanilla, with a pinch of black pepper, as well as nutmeg in the background.
Finish: The pepper fades into notes of orchard fruit. Medium in length.
Rating: 83
An interesting, slightly different whisky. At times like a sour, white wine, but then it also has these sweeter notes. I’m not completely convinced, although it certainly has its strengths.
Photo: Whiskybase