A couple of months ago Whiskybase was having their Dutch Auction discount and I managed to snag this one up, among at least one other bottle. American whisky (or Canadian, because that is what the distillery started with) isn’t overly popular in The Netherlands and that means that IF (a big if…) stuff comes here it is not unlikely to end up in a discount at some point. A shame if you ask me, but there’s not much to be done about which except for what Norbert / Whisky4All is doing.
WhistlePig is a distillery nowadays, but they started out by bottling spirit they bought elsewhere. Production of whisky only began in 2015, which means this is whisky that they bought from other distilleries. On the label is stated ‘hand bottled on the Whistlepig Farm’, so they’re not trying to wind you up contrary to some other brands.
This particular cask was bottled for Cane & Grain, a bottle shop in Amsterdam which I have yet to visit. Due to tourism and prices that go with it I tend to avoid shops in Amsterdam, but in this case I might have to make an exception. Anyway, the bottle was available through a competitor, which is interesting.
I always find it interesting that Fiji Rum is a thing, since Fiji is tiny and a million miles away from anywhere else. Also, and I know this is very wrong, I always think of the Caribbean when thinking of rum. At least, initially. I know and have tried rums from many other places as well.
Let’s just see where a very gentle whisky with added rum sweetness ends up.
Sniff:
Dry and spicy, with some added sweetness because of the rum cask. Dark bread croutons, some white pepper and sawdust.
Sip:
Soft, but with a bit of a dry peppery heat, and some honey and golden syrup sweetness.
Swallow:
A rather long and gentle finish. Mostly dey and dusty with a hint of straight forward rye grains.
I’m not the biggest fan of this one. I think it would have been better if it was bottled at a slightly elevated ABV, somewhere between 46 and 50% or so. Now there’s a bit too much focus on the sweetness for my liking. Having said that, it does make the whisky dangerously drinkable.
85/100
Malt Fascination 