The Miltonduff 10 Year Old TWB Originals 1st Fill Oloroso (63.4%)

Tasting notes:
This Miltonduff 10 Year Old opens on the nose like a mango masquerading as a prune. And it’s running past a candied kumquat fermenting in the spring sun. There’s also an interesting whiff of vanilla that at first might fool some into thinking this was matured in a 1st-fill Bourbon cask. The nose then settles into a very solid late summer in the woods–with kumquats–sort of smell. It’s an impressive start.

It is hot on the mouth, but also on a completely different vector than the nose, with mesquite-smoked cranberries and bright green apples mingling with blood orange amid some dark chocolate shavings in a fruit bacchanal. It’s very cologne-like, intense, savory, and aromatic all at once. The mouth is simultaneously rich and playing in a high and bright register. It’s a good trick.

The finish is long and sassy: not really drying, which is interesting for a 1st-fill Sherry bottling. The flavors resonate on the palate with bright and deep notes, like leather tanned with incense from a Buddhist temple altar. The burn is almost entirely at the back of the throat, and it’s both refreshing and cleansing–even though one might argue that cleansing is by fire. This dram makes the argument that 1st-fill Oloroso is younger Miltonduff’s ideal milieu.

 
 

Rating:
On the scale of ideal settings–

The Miltonduff 10 Year Old TWB Originals 1st-Fill Oloroso Cask is going on a pilgrimage to Buenos Aires in January to up one’s grilling game–This is Bill’s dream–nay, his calling–to unlock the secrets of Parillas and Asados as he escapes from winter in the northern hemisphere.

   

   

                                                               –Stephen

   

   

–Our thanks to The Whisky Barrel for the sample!