Wolfburn Aurora

In Thurso, a town with only 9000 inhabitants in the north of Scotland, the Wolfburn Distillery filled its very first cask with spirit in 2013, meaning that the first single malt appeared in 2016. After the initial release of their three year old malt, this Wolfburn Aurora appeared. It is a single malt that matured in three types of casks: 40% in second fill quarter casks, 40% on first fill bourbon casks and the remaining 20% on first fill oloroso sherry hogsheads.

The nose starts fairly malty with some light sherry influence. Think pineapple and leather, bitter oranges, juicy pear and some melon. Hint of cold coffee. Cherries. Not bat, but rather light in my book.

It is immediately somewhat bitter, without becoming astringent. I am reminded of pink grapefruit, again some oranges, gooseberries and some chestnut. Quite a few nuts in the mix (pecan, cashew and pistachio) and a drop of honey. There is a mildly smoky edge to it. Again, quite nice, but not grand.

The finish is the best part. Long, spicy, bitter, smoky and very clean.

If I didn’t know a part had matured on oloroso, I would have sworn this was fino or manzanilla. Anyway, good, but not grand. But maybe that is to be expected of a single malt of only 4 years old. Between 50 and 60 EUR.