Still Waters Stalk & Barrel Single Malt - Cask 11

This comes out of Still Waters, a craft distillery near Toronto, Ontario. It is bottled at cask strength (62.3%), and has been matured a little over 3 years in a bourbon cask. For more information on Still Waters see my other Stalk & Barrel Single Malt reviews.

Nose: Of the three casks I tasted together (1,8, and 11) the fruit is the freshest here - fresh apple, fresh banana - and this has perhaps the most creamy texture of the three (though it's not extremely creamy). Some of those fruity notes thus start to morph into fruit pudding sort of notes rather than just the fruit notes. There is a good bit of malt underneath all this, and this one has the most vanilla on the nose of all the casks I tasted. There is some light bourbon presence here - but not that much. 83%

Taste: Sweeter than cask 1, with more maltiness. There's some nutmeg, and a bit of dryness and the lightest touch of bitterness. There is a nice and big vanilla kick in the middle of this one - and it has a ncie effect. . There is a bit of a candied fruit note, as seen from time to time on the nose, and some of the tannins in the oak effect quite a bit of "texture" to this palate. 85%

Finish: A bit of sharp apple, with a good kick of spice. It also has a bit of an effect similar to baking sode in feel, which is a bit unfortunate. However, it's of decent body and..sure enough, once all else fades, you realize you are left with oak. 87%

Intrigue: This one has a bit more malt than cask 1, and less caramel and less wood. However, the fruit is fresh and big in this one - for good effect. Overall, I like this, but it's still a bit light, and although the style is growing on me a little - I still don't love the style. I found, in successive tastings, that my ratings went up and up. I love being able to do cask comparisons. 88%

Weighting the nose 25%, taste 35%, Finish 15%, and Intrigue 25% the overall grade is 86. For a direct comparison to other casks see my post at: whiskywon.wordpress.com/2014/10/…