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Dunnage nougat

  • ABV 50.0%
  • Age 9 years
  • CASK TYPE refill hogsheads & 1st fill barriques
  • Spirit Type Single Malt
Back Tasting Notes

Tasting Notes

What a tale of oak and fire we have here! We selected a wonderfully fruity Speyside single malt, which was maturing in bourbon hogsheads. We moved the whisky into a variety of custom coopered casks. In American oak we had new oak hogsheads made with a heavy toast and a medium char, and new oak barriques with a heavy toast (no char) and a medium plus toast (a little lighter, again no char). In French oak we opted for barriques in the same toasting specifications as the American barriques.

We found ourselves in a champagne frame of mind nosing neat, as we soaked gingerbread in the celebratory-worthy bubbly beside a classic kir royale cocktail with crème de cassis. On the palate, pears poached in pinot noir came topped with chantilly cream and vanilla custard, before a refreshing finish of elderflower sorbet. Following reduction one Panel member had torrone – Italian nougat flavoured with orange and packed with toasted almonds – in a dunnage warehouse, while others enjoyed caramelised cinnamon plantain. The taste was that of bergamot honey on creamy porridge with butter, as well as candied-and-coated-in-sugar yuzu peels.

 

READ FURTHER NOTES

An exploration of oak

Introducing Batch 21: Dunnage nougat, a marriage of oak and fire! This is a wonderfully fruity Speyside single malt that has been maturing in a bourbon hogshead for nine years. But what makes this cask extra special? Well, it’s matured in ex-bourbon and custom-built American & French new oak casks.

The maturation process has left an EXQUISITE flavour explosion, giving a champagne frame of mind nosing neat before soaking gingerbread in the celebratory-worthy bubbly beside a classic kir royale cocktail with crème de cassis. On the palate, you will try pears poached in pinot noir topped with chantilly cream and vanilla custard, before a refreshing finish of elderflower sorbet.

Dive into this JUICY dram!

Want to hear more about this cask? Watch our latest Outturn with SMWS head of whisky creation, Euan Campbell, spirits coordinator Julien Willems and Unfiltered editor Richard Goslan as they discuss Dunnage nougat as well as some of the fascinating contrasts in flavour that can be achieved from different single casks from the same distillery.