Virginia Distillery Co. Charity Cask

Nose:  Big hit of alcohol up front.  Let it settle for half an hour and the rest comes out:  Light honey- maybe honeysuckle.  Gardenias?  Vanilla. Palate:  Medium-bodied, which is more weight than I expected.  Honey and some of the heather you get with a Speyside single-malt.  The vanilla intensifies.  Fruit that I can't quite identify, like canned fruit cocktail.  Dark undertone from the coffee that adds some bitterness.  Is coffee char a thing? Finish:  Fairly long and the sweetness in the finish transitions more to coffee char.  The whisky develops nicely from nose to finish and grew on me. Overall:  I'm a fan of peated whiskies, but always looking for interesting variations on the charred heft that peat brings (Glendronach 12 is a good example of what I have in mind).  This is too mild for any comparison with a heavily-peated whisky, but the coffee finish brings something of what I'm talking about, surprisingly without making the whisky reek of coffee.  It's more of a roasted malt than a peated or coffee malt.  Fortunately, this coffee effect just complements the sweetness in the rest of the whisky and there's a nice balance.  I was afraid this would taste like flavored whisky or liquor and that's not the case.  As usual with this distillery, a couple more years in the barrel might do wonders for a whisky like this (maybe tame the alcohol burn), but it has personality and is worth trying for someone who's looking for something different without taking a big risk. Bonus points for this being a fundraiser for the distillery's home county.  You can find out more on the website https://shop.vadistillery.com/products/charity-cask