I like Inchgower! Does anyone else like Inchgower? Hopefully some of you do, because there are nine Inchgower reviews comin' atcha. Or maybe you can't stand the stuff, but will happily hate read my notes. Either way, welcome to this Inchgower not-quite-a-Cluster set!
Though Inchgower takes to sherry casks very nicely (okay, not always), I'm beginning this series with a fairly nude Inchie from the reliable Signatory Un-Chillfiltered Collection, hoping that it'll be a solid point of reference for the stuff that follows. The distillery uses a quick mashing process and one of the briefest fermentation times that I've seen in Scotland. Time to find out the result.
Distillery: Inchgower
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Range: Un-Chillfiltered Collection
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Range: Un-Chillfiltered Collection
Age: 11 years (18 Sept 2007 - 16 Aug 2019)
Maturation: hogshead
Cask number: 801387
Outturn: ??? bottles
Cask number: 801387
Outturn: ??? bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(from a bottle split)
(from a bottle split)
NOTES
The pretty nose shows mostly barley and flowers for a while. Cashew butter and yeast then settle into the midground. Whole grain crackers and cherry juice in the back. It does have a slight sulfuric nip from the spirit.
The palate dishes out earthy molasses, hay and orange notes, with quieter moments of eau de vie and dried herbs. The earthiness and herbal bitterness combine into something almost peaty. It all arrives packaged in a creamy mouthfeel.
That good bitterness balances with mild sweetness, tart limes, and bunches of barley in the finish.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Hooray! Rustic and floral, with a little bit of fruit and whole lotta barley, the whisky did what I hoped it would, and I liked it. 46%abv was probably the best bottling strength for it as well since the rawness could have been too much at full power. Despite what I said in the intro, the next eight Inchgowers are not just sherry casks, so perhaps I'll find out what happens to these youthful characteristics once time settles in.
Availability - Still available at a few US retailers
Pricing - all over the place
Pricing - all over the place
Rating - 85
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