Yesterday's Hazelburn was probably frequently mistaken for today's Hazelburn. Same age and vintage (down to the month), and bottled seven months apart. I thought I accidentally sourced the same whisky twice. But no, this 13yo was assembled entirely from oloroso casks, and is a smidgen stronger than Monday's H-burn. How did it fare in a Taste Off?
Distillery: Springbank
Owner: J&A Mitchell
Brand: Hazelburn
Region: Campbeltown
Age: 13 years (June 2007 - 23 Sept 2020)
Maturation: 100% Oloroso casks
Outturn: 9,900 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 50.3%
(from a bottle split)
NEAT
The nose doesn't read like a contemporary sherried beast, and the casks smell clean. It's gently nutty, with some toffee, shortbread biscuits and a hint of nectarine. No black raisins nor prunes. With time, it shifts towards toffee, smoke and dried currants. The palate, on the other hand, is a sherry 'splosion. Sultanas, figs and sea salt at first. Then lemons and stones. It picks up a bit of sulfur and black raisins as it sits in the glass. No sulfur in the finish though. In fact it holds onto the sultanas, dried currants and lemon zest.
DILUTED to ~46%abv, or ½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
It noses of raw almonds, dried apricots, sultanas and digestive biscuits. Meanwhile, sulfur starts taking over the palate, allowing small odes of oranges, black raisins and woody bitterness. It finish tart, bitter and raisiny.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Keep water far away from this one as it crumbles once diluted. In fact, drink the whisky fast because it doesn't air out particularly well. My score probably seems generous, but if you catch it early, it's quite good, especially in the nose and finish. But FWIW, I'd quickly take yesterday's 13yo over this 13yo any and every day.
Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 85 (neat only; when diluted it sinks into the 70s)