Deanston 14 Year Organic

Light and easy sipper. Tastes a little younger than 14 years old. Sugar babies, lemon and melted whipped cream. Watery, short finish. Update ... I’m now at the end of the bottle and it hasn’t gotten much more interesting. It’s really young tasting - almost like new make. Would never guess that it’s 14 years old. I hate that I don’t like this one because I really admire what Deanston did with making it 100% organic. But taste buds don’t lie. Would take Hazelburn 10 over this any day.

Lemons and peaches set out by a pot of wildflowers and dripping honeycomb on the nose. Vanilla, chilies, demerara sugar on the palate quickly becomes soft liquid honey and warming szechuan pepper. This whiskey is hot, so I’m going to add some water. The nose opens up to more stewed pears and apples. The palate becomes green apples and less spicy. The finish is still sweet, but is more oak and less spicy chili. A good and interesting whiskey, but its better with some water.

Deanston 14 Year Organic Barrel Select 2017 An intense, Single Malt from Highland, Scotland aged in virgin oak casks. It has an aromatic birth with notes of light fruits, citrus, dried apricots, coconut, rich toffee, sweet oak & barley sugar; while a rich & fruity life adds notes of fruit, malty honeyed spiciness, soft vanilla, allspice, citrus syrup & sour apples; that led to a long & tingling death. January 2017 / August 2022

Nose: Heavy on the cedarwood, a briny, seaweedy twist. Palate: Spicy cedarwood initially, with a fruity almost tropical flavour underneath. Finish: Lingering white pepper and sea salt. Borders on becoming savoury. Notes: a mixed bag of things. The palate, nose and finish all sound like I'm describing 3 different whiskies. It's interesting but not something I'd have in my collection.

Nose. Fresh, sweet vanilla (but not a lot else?). Palate. Honey, woody notes (oak?) and a little orange. (The sweetness is a little overpowering.) Finish. Cream at first, leading into black pepper. Easy drinking but not particularly complex.

Nose: Acetone/chemical. Woody Palate: Smooth, tropical fruit, oak & vanilla, woody Finish: Creamy, black pepper. Citrus and sour on the aftertaste. This has a very long, but exceptionally dry finish.