Nant Single Cask American Oak Sherry Wood

This sample comes to me from my co-worker Jessica La Grassa. The Nant estate in Tasmania was founded in 1821 and after being purchased by a couple in 2004, a distillery was built in 2008. Bill Lark (of Lark Distillery) guided the owners (how nice of him to help out a competitor!), with the goal of producing a limited number of casks each year. I believe all of their whiskies are single cask single malts. I know very little about this particular expression beyond it's name and ABV.

The colour is a deep copper. On the nose, rich sherry (perhaps a little too rich), rum-soaked raisins and wet forest, all wrapped around a malty core. Lots of vanilla too, which is surprising as it is not from a bourbon cask. Christmas cake. With water, the malt comes forward a little but is still dominated by the cask, which becomes plums and mushrooms. Quite beguiling.

The palate is mouth-drying, with more rum-raisin (definitely the dominant note here), grape and more Christmas cake. Water evens things out a little.

The finish is very tannic, rich and luscious. This is a sherry bomb of a different character than your Speysiders: much more fruity, with a Cognac quality that I haven't seen before. Very interesting and highly drinkable.