As a cask comes to maturity, Finn curates sampling sessions in interesting and relaxing environments, with friends, whisky experts and trusted partners to discover the personality of each cask and gauge the experience each dram evokes.
All the best distillers pride themselves on crafting whisky with a distinctive flavour, which is determined by the water source, grain and barley, the peat and malting, and their distilling processes. High quality original spirit is integral to every cask we bottle.
The cask itself interacts with the whisky over time. The type of wood plays a big role, as do treatments such as the whiskies are aged in a variety of types of casks. The whiskies are aged in former sherry or bourbon casks, augmenting the cask influence. External conditions such as air temperature, pressure and humidity also interact with the cask producing a knock-on effect that makes the spirit inside unique.
Finn uses these factors to balance each FT whisky experience. He may sample a cask and decide to leave it on the rack, allowing age to further develop its personality. He might decide to re-rack a whisky in a new cask to add a finishing touch. Or, he might simply deem it ready. When Finn decides the flavour is perfectly balanced, it’s time to bottle the whisky.
One of the great joys of being an independent bottler is finding casks that are so different to the usual style found at a distillery. In an industry where consistency is so important, it is rare to find individual casks that stand so far apart from the recognised flavour profile of the official bottlings.
This cask is a throwback to the original style of the distillery and indeed the style that made it so popular that it was the first distillery to be given a Royal Warrant back in 1835. Whereas now Brackla was known for its fruity and floral style, back then it was celebrated for its peatiness.
Whereas in times past Brackla’s smokiness came from the peated malt it used, here the peat comes from its full maturation in an ex-Islay cask. A different take on a peated whisky, the integration of peaty notes within the cask over 10 years gives it a lighter peatiness that integrates beautifully with the spirit character.
An advert in the Morning Post in 1836 described Royal Brackla as “peat flavoured, but far from rank - strong, but not fiery, and produces the most exquisite Punch or Toddy”. I couldn’t describe this particular cask better myself.
One of the great joys of being an independent bottler is finding casks that are so different to the usual style found at a distillery. In an industry where consistency is so important, it is rare to find individual casks that stand so far apart from the recognised flavour profile of the official bottlings.
This cask is a throwback to the original style of the distillery and indeed the style that made it so popular that it was the first distillery to be given a Royal Warrant back in 1835. Whereas now Brackla was known for its fruity and floral style, back then it was celebrated for its peatiness.
Whereas in times past Brackla’s smokiness came from the peated malt it used, here the peat comes from its full maturation in an ex-Islay cask. A different take on a peated whisky, the integration of peaty notes within the cask over 10 years gives it a lighter peatiness that integrates beautifully with the spirit character.
An advert in the Morning Post in 1836 described Royal Brackla as “peat flavoured, but far from rank - strong, but not fiery, and produces the most exquisite Punch or Toddy”. I couldn’t describe this particular cask better myself.