Tasting notes: Three Ships, batch 1 – That Boutique-y Whisky Company

Have you ever heard of Three Ships? Well, I have to admit that I haven’t heard of it until I received this sample. That doesn’t mean that I was quite curious about this, to try something new and learning about it is always good fun. And that is also why samples can be so interesting, it gives you the opportunity to taste something that you might not immediately buy a bottle of yourself. But let’s talk a bit about Three Ships, shall we?

Three Ships comes from the James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington, South Africa. The Distillery was founded way back in 1886, so it has actually been around for many years. It is even the only commercial whisky distillery in Africa, how is it even possible I have never heard of it!

Anyway, besides Three Ships – a range that consists of single malts and blends – the distillery is also home to Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky, which is single grain whisky. Not too bad eh.

The Three Ships I have here today is a 6-year-old single malt from That Boutique-y Whisky Company. It’s their first bottling of South African whisky and it is also the first time I’m going to taste something from this country. I don’t know what kind of cask is used or if it is finished but it is bottled at 53.7% ABV. I’m going in blind! 😉

Three Ships 6-year-old tasting notes:

Nose: Oh weird, it somehow reminds me of rum, that sugary edge of rum. Ok… Interesting. This is followed by raisins. A touch of honey. Then it bends towards vanilla. Oak spices and coconut. And now it reminds me of bourbon, haha. Annndd going back to rum again. Now I’m really curious how this will taste!

Taste: Thick and creamy. Nice! Definitely those oak spices again. A honey layer here as well. Followed by dark chocolate and anise. Then it becomes nutty.

Finish: A long finish with chocolate and a slight menthol note. A bit nutty here too.

It’s a very pleasant dram actually, I wouldn’t have expected to taste both rum and bourbon in one single malt, ha! Lots of flavours going on here and I love the creamy and thick mouthfeel. All I want to say is try something different than you used to, it might surprise you sometimes. It did for me!

Sample provided by Atom Brands.