Welcome to the very first installment of our regular Whisky Under Fifty reviews, where we review a different whisky (or whiskey) that you can buy for less than £50! If you’d like to know more about what we're doing with this series, read our introduction post here.Today’s whisky is Deanston Virgin Oak.
Deanston Virgin Oak NAS Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Deanston Distillery in the Highlands of Scotland actually started out life as a cotton mill. Thanks to the availability of pure water from the nearby River Teith, the decision was made to convert it to a distillery in 1966.
Other cool facts about this distillery include its unique architecture, organic certification, and use of only Scottish-grown barley. Here we review their Virgin Oak NAS release. We featured this whisky in April 2019's tasting box, Sibling Sippers. It's always nice to go back to a whisky you tried a while ago and see if anything's changed! Coming in at around £35, it's well under our whisky budget of £50.
Review
Colour:
Light amber
Nose:
Vanilla bean ice cream, baklava dripping with honey, zingy lemon and a hint of wood char.
Palate:
A big, toffee-honey sweetness like Werther’s Originals hits you up front, followed by lashings of rich cream and more of that honey-soaked pastry. More oak spice pulls through along with a hint of herbaceousness to back it up.
Finish:
Medium
Overall Thoughts:
A great contender for a beginner’s whisky. It’s sweet and mellow, but invites you back for more.
Main flavour category: Sweet Dessert
Get it here for £34.56
Try Deanston Virgin Oak if you like...
Fans of sweet bourbon (like Maker's Mark or Wild Turkey) looking to get into single malt should probably start here. The use of virgin oak brings all sorts of familiar vanilla and caramel flavours, while retaining that delicate barley malt character. If you're looking for a sweet, easy-going whisky under £50, we definitely recommend giving this one a try.
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