The Distillery Reserve collection is a series of single cask releases that is only available at the visitor centres of the Chivas distilleries. The ones I’ve tasted so far, were quite enjoyable and also fairly priced. So you can imagine when there are new releases that they will sell out pretty quickly. Today I will review one of these bottlings, a Strathisla 13 year old. This one was released mid-2017.
This Strathisla has been matured in a 1st fill sherry butt, and is bottled at 58,3% ABV. Cask no. 62274.
Strathisla 13 year old tasting notes:
Nose: cacao, strawberries, cherries and chocolate. Then dried fruits and dark fruits, such as brambles, blueberries, dates, and raisins. Some coffee but the sweet tones dominate here. Somewhat nutty at the end.
Taste: Very sweet. Dates, strawberries, followed by dark chocolate, whipped cream and honey. This leads towards milk chocolate, and it becomes creamy, very creamy actually. Maybe a bit of cappuccino. Some fruits in the background, but I can’t define what this is. But very nice!
Finish: The finish is mid-long, and somewhat dry. Some whipped cream, dark chocolate and again some dates. Also a hint of red and dark fruits.
This is good, very good! Great value for money, as it was for sale for £70,-. But I can’t stand the fact that I can’t define the fruits in the taste. They are there but I don’t recognise them.
Many thanks again to Jason for the generous sample!
Picture credit: Whiskybase
