Kintra used to be a rather well known Dutch bottler. Well known amongst whisky geeks that is, but still. But, and it’s anything but illogical, Erik Molenaar has been focusing on his Wagging Finger distillery in Deventer ever since that got up and running. More so than on the bottling side of things.

With an eye for quality and the rising prices of everything whisky-related, this looks like a smart change of perspective to me!

Two years ago he did release some bottles. A couple of them with The Whisky Mercenary from Belgium, and two of them by himself. This is one of them. I think the other one will follow tomorrow.

Ever since re-visiting Balblair distillery in October, I’ve been going through this bottle a little bit more quickly than before. And yes, this is another one that was bought during covid for the ‘Stay the Fuck Home’ tastings.

Last weekend, during a couple of days in the Ardennes with my in-laws it was time to finish the bottle, among quite a few others, to downsize my collection of open bottles a little bit. Of course, a visit to Shoppingcenter Massen counteracted that a little bit, but still. Net progress was made in that regard!

Sniff:
Oloroso sherry and a lot of strong alcohol. More oak thsn I’d expect for an eight year old dram. Very sweet with notes of pound cake, soaked in orange liqueur.

Sip:
Again, a lot of alcohol, with the heat tgat cones with it. It does show what we would call ‘dirty sherry’. A bit of clowing sweetness, pencils, orange syrup, slightly funky sherry notes.

Swallow:
Lots of funky sherry again, lots of moldy hessian and old, wet oak.

It’s not really a typical Balblair, since the cask influence is quite strong and trumps the spirit. However, it’s a very nice whisky. Not overly complex, but with a bit more funkiness than normal. And I like that funkiness.

86/100

Still for sale in The Netherlands and going between € 60 and € 70