Deanston 12 Year Old Unchillfiltered

Since Burn Stewart Distillers took over the brand Deanston in 2009 – together with Tobermory, Ledaig and Bunnahabhain – it is bottled at 46,3% ABV and not chill filtered. The new (well) version of Deanston 12 Year Old hence proudly sports the term Un-Chill Filtered on the label.

The nose is sweet and shows both bourbon and sherry cask traits, so I suppose both types of casks were used (no sh*t, Sherlock). Very sweet on caramel and vanilla on the one hand, loads of orange peel, grapefruit, dried apricots and a marmalade of peach on the other. Some almonds, honey and sunflower oil. Very pleasant and inviting.

The body is quite fine, even somewhat creamy. Sweet and sour on pomelo, Seville oranges, dades and a hint of dark chocolate. Loads of woodspice, making it somewhat piquant. Midpalate it turns a touch bitter as if from grapefruit, but never over the top. This is quite good, in fact.

The finish is a tad longer than anticipated, on oranges and pepper.

Fine whisky, very quaffable, without being a card players’ dram. Much better than the old version, no doubt about it. Around 45 EUR, which seems very fair indeed.

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