A little while ago I got a set of tasting samples from Erik Molenaar, the guy behind Kintra Single Cask. He sent me four different ones and I’m planning to review them this week. The first one I tried was a 12 year old Cooley at 49.6% ABV. I started with this one since I think it is the lightest one in the set. I planned to taste a couple more yesterday, but didn’t get around to it.

Nose:
A very typical bourbon cask scent. Lightly fruity, with lots of yellow fruit. Very sweet lemon curd and pineapple mostly. I also get brioche pastry, very sweet and syrupy.

Taste:
A little dry and fairly sharp. I didn’t expect that from the juicy scents that came first. A bit more wood than on the nose, but that’s welcome. Again, loads of yellow fruit. Lemon and pineapple again.

Finish:
The finish is light, but full flavored. The lemon and pineapple are the main theme here. A little bit of wood is detectable as well, but not very in-your-face.

I like this kind of whisky, especially in Irish whisky for some reason (I loved a Connemara single cask I tasted at Hielander!). This one is very delicious, and very drinkable. The only concern I would have before buying a bottle would be that it’s only displaying 2 or 3 flavours and not much more.

Cooley 12 year old, Kintra Whisky, 49.6%, € 73.50 at Pat’s Wine & Whisky in Groningen.