Spirited News 01/2023: Whic.de Voyages
As per usual, I am pretty late to review some samples from Which.de. However, they also publish a new Scottish Single Malt book out. So, I took this as an excuse to write about the recent whiskies and other bottlings.
First, Which.de bottles the Edda series together with Signatory Vintage. For the fourth edition, they used a 13-year-old Teaninich from a single sherry butt. The cask strength single malt has an ABV of 56,4 %. The whisky carries a lot of sherry fruits with certain plum notes. You can notice the alcohol, but it is quite complex nevertheless.
Not a Whisky
In their ‘Voyages’ series independent bottler Whic.de releases other spirits than whisky. In this case, the bottled a 25-year-old cognac from Vallein Tercinier. The just 150 bottles have an ABV of 48 %. This certainly is something different from your average, soft cognac: You get a lot of grapes and candied violet notes. While being quite old, the cognac manages to keep a good balance between the fruity notes and the oak.
Very old Single Grain Whisky
I have tried a few Amazing Whiskies before, but the 32-year-old Single Grain from Invergordon might just be my favourite from this line. With its 47,8 % ABV it carries all the notes you know from good Single Grain Whisky (vanilla, buttery), but also delivers some of that ‘old Scotch’ characteristics which I have not had in a long time!
Best whisky of the year – so far!
Unfortunately, the Secret Speyside whisky from Whic’s Sirens series also is already sold out. Otherwise, I would have instantly bought a bottle of this cask-strength whisky! This was by far the best sipping whisky I had this year. – Even at an ABV of 51,9 %. You can taste a lot of sherry cask like notes, but with a twist. The Amarone casks takes the taste in a Amarena cherry like direction. However, underneath you still get classic Single Malt characteristics.
Jump on the Armagnac train!
Well, I guess after whisky and rum, the spirit nerds now take to Armagnac. So, it is no wonder that Whic decided to bottle one from Maison Aurian. With an age of 20 years, you will taste some of the ester notes typically found in old Armagnac. On top of that, the spirit showcased the influence of European oak which meant that it was quite the pleasant sip, too.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The spirits were provided by Whic.de.
