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or ExitSingle Cask Single Malts at Cask Strength
"Sampling whisky as it matures is one of the enduring pleasures of owning a distillery. Thankfully, no instrument has ever been developed that can indicate whether or not a cask of whisky has transitioned from ‘OK to drink’ to ‘delightful to drink’. This means that every single cask must be nosed and tasted regularly. Working from cask to cask, it transpires that some are sensorially mature beyond their years. As the Founders of Annandale Distillery, it’s our privilege and pleasure to select and set aside a few of these early maturing 2016 casks, for you to enjoy. This is Annandale’s Founders’ Selection." - David Thomson & Teresa Church
NEW FOR DEC' 2022 - 5YR OLD FOUNDERS' SELECTION SHERRY HOGSHEADS!
Cask 587 (2016)- Man O'Words Founders' Selection Sherry Hogshead - 59.7% ABV
The above cask was originally an American oak hogshead seasoned with Oloroso sherry for a year period prior to filling back in 2016. In 2019, it was deemed that this cask was at risk of becoming over mature so the whisky was re-racked into refill Hogsheads. These refill casks have slowed the maturation process down nicely to produce an exquisite 5-year old bottling.
Nose- Initial rich hints of caramelising brown sugar opens up to dried fruity notes of Dates and Raisins, rich Christmas cake and back notes of creamy sweet vanilla, salted caramel
Palate- nutty hints of hazel and walnut lead into a spicy, tongue coating mouthfeel and a caramel finish.
Buy NowCask 541 (2016)- Man O'Sword Sherry Hogshead- 59.5% ABV
The above cask was originally an American oak hogshead seasoned with Oloroso sherry for a 2 year period prior to filling back in 2016. In 2019, it was deemed that this cask was at risk of becoming over mature so the whisky was re-racked into refill Hogsheads. These refill casks have slowed the maturation process down nicely to produce an exquisite 5-year old bottling.
Nose- initial hints of steeped rich dried fruits including raisins and dates followed by notes of treacle, butter and toffee. Subtle whisps of tobacco peak through towards the end.
Palate- an initial blast of sweet tobacco, fresh herbal notes and spices leads onto sweet buttery hints and a medicinally sweet aftertaste
Buy NowFounders' Selection - STR (Shaved, Toasted & Re-Charred) Ex-Burgundy Casks - Swan/Martin
Following on from the successful release of our first Founders Selection in November 2019, our pursuit to discover our next Founders Selection drew us to casks that have always sparked our curiosity.
March 2017 saw Annandale fill just 90x 230L Ex- STR (Shaved, Toasted and Re-charred) French Burgundy casks. We took great pleasure and interest in tracking the maturation journey of these casks and by March of 2020, the time came to select just 2 outstanding casks from the 90 casks filled to bottle. These were casks 321 (2017) Man O’Words and 355 (2017) Man O’Sword.
Cask 321 (2017) Man O’Words (62.1% ABV)- this STR (Shaved, Toasted and Recharred) Ex-French Burgundy cask was filled with unpeated new make spirit on the 16th March 2017 and bottled on the 15th June 2020. This wonderfully unique Coopering process which was the Brainchild of the late Dr Jim Swan and Spanish cooperage Jose Miguel Martin produces a golden amber dram with spicy notes of cinnamon, vanilla, fresh conference pears, summer strawberries and Braeburn apple.
Buy NowCask 355 (2017) Man O’ Sword (61.9% ABV)- this STR (Shaved, Toasted and Recharred) Ex- French Burgundy cask was filled with unpeated new make spirit on the 23rd March 2017 and bottled on the 15th June 2020. This wonderfully unique Coopering process which was the Brainchild of the late Dr Jim Swan and Spanish cooperage Jose Miguel Martin produces a dram with a rich golden amber hue, notes of tobacco smoke, smoky bacon and hints of coconut, sweet almond cherry Bakewell, creamy vanilla and fresh peach.
Buy NowAnnandale Distillery will launch Swan/Martin STR-matured, peated (Man O' Sword) and unpeated (Man O’ Words) Single Cask, Single Malts under its Founders’ Selection label. It’s our tribute to the great man. - Prof. David Thomson
Founders’ Selection: Cask 2016/544 (Man O’ Sword) & Cask 2016/588 (Man O’ Words) SOLD OUT
It was during one of these routine samplings that we came across a clutch of sherry-conditioned virgin oak hogsheads, lurking in the dark and damp recesses of our historic bonded warehouses. We’d sourced 12 of these hogsheads in early 2016 from Miguel Martin (José y Miguel Martín SA, Spain). Eight were coopered in Spain from American oak. The other four, also coopered in Spain, were of homegrown Spanish oak. Half were filled with our unpeated Man O’ Words spirit and the other half filled with our peated Man O’ Sword.
Spanish oak (Quercus rubor) is faster growing than American oak (Quercus alba), giving it a more open grain. This allows the maturing spirit to penetrate the oak more readily to extract various flavour compounds. We thought this might be interesting……and it has certainly proved to be so!
Casks 2016/544 and 2016/588 are the inaugural bottlings in our Founders’ Selection range.