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.
Anyone who knows Scotland understands that whisky is just one of two national drinks. The other, of course, is Irn Bru. Irn Bru and childhood in Scotland are inextricably linked.
I even remember attending Summer rugby camps as a 7-year-old where mini bottles of the fizzy drink were handed out as post-game refreshments – no doubt to the dismay of all parents who would collect their exhausted and sugar-fuelled children at the end of each day.
Trying this Girvan cask for the first time immediately reminded me of that old school pre-sugar-tax Irn Bru. The recipe and exact flavour profile of Irn Bru is a closely guarded secret but, to me, it’s a delightful combination of bubblegum and foam bananas. Strange as it sounds, both those flavours are abundant in this 33 Year Old Girvan.
Old grain whiskies have the ability to take on an incredible sweetness, sometimes akin to the characteristics of aged rums. However, this Girvan stands out in the way it has an almost man-made sweetness. It is ‘Scotland’s other national drink’ all grown up.
A Fragrant and Floral style created mainly as the backbone for Grant’s. It uses wheat as the base cereal and is known for it’s slight sweetness and floral spirit character.
This cask was filled into a bourbon barrel in 1989. The sweetness of the spirit character has been emphasised by the sweetness of the cask resulting in this fantastic Irn Bru character.
The development of an intense sweetness over 33 years of ageing is what aged grain whisky is all about for me. This cask has gone in the direction of a man made, manufactured sweetness that stands it out from other single grains of the same age.
Anyone who knows Scotland understands that whisky is just one of two national drinks. The other, of course, is Irn Bru. Irn Bru and childhood in Scotland are inextricably linked.
I even remember attending Summer rugby camps as a 7-year-old where mini bottles of the fizzy drink were handed out as post-game refreshments – no doubt to the dismay of all parents who would collect their exhausted and sugar-fuelled children at the end of each day.
Trying this Girvan cask for the first time immediately reminded me of that old school pre-sugar-tax Irn Bru. The recipe and exact flavour profile of Irn Bru is a closely guarded secret but, to me, it’s a delightful combination of bubblegum and foam bananas. Strange as it sounds, both those flavours are abundant in this 33 Year Old Girvan.
Old grain whiskies have the ability to take on an incredible sweetness, sometimes akin to the characteristics of aged rums. However, this Girvan stands out in the way it has an almost man-made sweetness. It is ‘Scotland’s other national drink’ all grown up.
A Fragrant and Floral style created mainly as the backbone for Grant’s. It uses wheat as the base cereal and is known for it’s slight sweetness and floral spirit character.
This cask was filled into a bourbon barrel in 1989. The sweetness of the spirit character has been emphasised by the sweetness of the cask resulting in this fantastic Irn Bru character.
The development of an intense sweetness over 33 years of ageing is what aged grain whisky is all about for me. This cask has gone in the direction of a man made, manufactured sweetness that stands it out from other single grains of the same age.