Hammerschmiede Glen Els 8 Year Old 2008 Woodsmoked Pale Cream Sherry

At the end of 2016 Hammerschmiede released to similar malts, both so-called ‘woodsmoked’, one matured on a Pale Cream Sherry cask and the other on a Dark Sherry cask. I am happy to put them head-to-head. Let me end with the Pale Cream Sherry, for it has an ABV that is significantly higher.

Oh! Delicious nose! But… this reminds me more of a rum than of a whisky, really. My nostrils are swamped with dark and sweet notes from mildly burnt caramel, Greek coffee, Werther’s Original, candied peach, mandarin from a can, toffee apples and baked banana in brown sugar. The woodsmoke reminds me of grandpa’s hearth after he has dropped in a fresh log of wood. Very, very nice.

It could do with a little more body, but the taste is very good, even if a bit less than the nose promised. The peach and banana return, but are somewhat disturbed by a sour note as if from gooseberries, while the wood becomes loud and a bit drying. Caramel kicks in with a vengeance, while white pepper offers a prickly note.

The finish is long, creamy, sweet and spicy. Some roasted nuts towards the end, while it dies a very drying and bitter death.

It started very promising on the nose, but lost a bit of balance on the palate, while the finish made it very bitter and dry. Downhill, to be sure, but luckily it started so close to the top, that it remains a mighty whisky. Recommended.