KCWS stands for King’s Court Whisky Society, although based on the label of these bottles, they abbreviate it to KWCS instead. It’s a whisky club located in Haarlem, The Netherlands and it has been around for quite a while. I was a member at some point but cancel my membership after I didn’t go to any events for several years in a row.

Anyway, these two bottlings have so much text on them. There’s ‘The 2019 WF WOW! Project’, but also stuff about it being a delegation bottle, information on the cask and the fact that it is from ‘The Kingdom of the Netherlands’. Oh, and something about no bullshit. Both bottles contain ‘AlcVol%’, which is something I’ve never seen before like that.

Of course, in the end it’s about the booze and not about the utter mayhem that’s on the label. I got to try these due to being able to get a set from one of the members of the club, and I picked them up ages ago. Obviously, I never got around to reviewing them until recently.

For the ones that are wondering what ‘Wagging Finger’ is. It’s a small craft distillery producing gin and whisky in Deventer (also in The Kingdom of The Netherlands). Erik Molenaar, who runs the distillery is also an importer of several brands (Dram Mor being one of them) and bottler of whiskies in the ‘Kintra‘ series.

Wagging Finger 3, 2019-2023, Virgin European Oak Cask W2019-008, 64.2%

Sniff:
Ah, yes. The whisky that holds the middle between gin and whisky. It’s almost like the still has some sort of memory. Having said that, it’s definitely not bad. There’s a crispness, with hints of juniper, thyme and rosemary. Rather herbaceous. Grainy with grassy notes, petrichor even. It takes quite some time for the notes of European oak to start getting through.

Sip:
The palate really shows the immense alcohol percentage and is bone dry because of it. Leathery with a hint of rubber or whale skin. Fruit, juniper, grass, moss, leafy greens, a bit of oak and some grist.

Swallow:
The finish might even be more gin like than the nose was. Full on notes of juniper, with fruits and herbs. Even some spices with a hint of clove. Quite a long finish with just a splinter of oak in there, as well as a minor hint of barley.

If you don’t like gin, I can imagine not liking this whisky either. There definitely is a lot of juniper like notes throughout this dram. I do like gin, and therefor I do like this whisky. I think the whisky is nicely balanced, but could do with more time in the cask, and not just to bring the ABV (or AlcVol%) down a bit more.

86/100

Wagging Finger 3, 2019-2023, Virgin American Oak Cask W2019-009, 65.1%

Sniff:
This one, following the European oak one, is just as crisp, but maybe a little bit lighter and more lemon-y. Still quite gin like, but more in its crispness than the juniper forward nose from the other one.

Sip:
The palate is hot and dry, with a focus on the hot part. Slightly leathery, but mostly just biting alcohol and chili. Lighter than the other one, with a hint of lemon pith.

Swallow:
The finish shows more whisky notes with more barley and not as much gin like things. It’s a bit sweeter than it was before.

This one is weird. Strangely, it doesn’t seem to do much on either nose, palate and finish. Of course you notice the alcohol, but in regard to flavor it all feels rather held back. The European oak one is a lot more interesting, if you ask me!

82/100