Annandale Man O' Sword 2017 STR Wine Cask
Key Facts About This Single Malt
Distillery: Annandale
Whisky Maker: (late) Dr Jim Swan
Range: Man O' Sword
Region: Lowlands, Scotland
Filled: 23/03/2017
Bottled: 12/06/2020
Cask Type: Single STR Burgundy Wine Cask
Cask Ref: 348
Alcohol by Volume: 60.6%
Bottled: Natural colour and without chill filtration
Bottle Size: 700ml
Man O' Sword 2017 STR Tasting Notes
Official tasting notes
Colour: Wonderfully rich golden amber hue
Nose: Peat is subtle at first but very reminiscent of tobacco smoke and smoky bacon. This is followed by a hint of coconut and sweet almond cherry Bakewell.
Palate: A huge peat explosion. Earthy notes with smouldering green foliage, creamy vanilla, fresh peach and a slight tickle of black pepper on the back of the throat.
About Annandale Whisky
Under the expert guidance of the late Dr Jim Swan, Annandale distillery filled just 90 230L STR Ex-Burgundy casks in March of 2017 with award-winning peated and unpeated new make malt spirit.
These casks were very much the brainchild of the Late Dr Jim Swan and a collaboration with Spanish cooperage Jose Miguel Martin. Originally filled with fine French Burgundy for a period of up to 7 years, once emptied, these casks went through the unique STR (Shaved Toasting and Recharring) coopering process.
- Shaving: each cask went through a unique shaving process whereby the cask staves have been shaved to expose a combination of lightly wine-soaked and virgin oak staves.
- Toasting: Using oak chips, this helps to caramelise the wood sugars and vanillins that have been exposed by the shaving process. This is a very delicate process: the wine contained inside of the staves must be caramelized too but overheating can potentially spoil the wine.
- Recharred: This increases surface area exposed to the spirit and maximises flavour extraction.
These casks were then partially filled with oloroso sherry to keep the wood hydrated in transit from Spain to Annandale Distillery.
These casks have provoked some real intrigue to Annandale and have always been a favourite to taste during their days within the Annandale warehouses sampling from maturing casks. In fact, by November of 2017, they drew some stock from two of these casks at just 8 months old. They felt it was so stunning in flavour even at just 8 months old that they served it as part of Annandale’s 15th of November launch event- the day in which cask number 1 officially became whisky.
When these casks did ‘come of age’ and after much consideration and discussion, they bottled cask 307 as Man O’ Words (filled 16/03/2017) and this cask 348 as Man O’ Sword (filled 23/03/2017) which were bottled on the 12th June 2020. Two wonderful whiskies which combine delicious fruits including pear, strawberries and coconut with superbly delicate hints of spice and pepper to just tickle the palate.
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