Deanston 11 Years Old 2011 Cask #800036 (Best Dram)

The bottler Best Dram bottled this Deanston, an 11 year old, distilled in 2011, from cask 800036, bottled at 59.3%, one of 215 bottles. Deanston is a Highland single malt, unchillfiltered and made from Scottish barley near Stirling. Its wash is fermented long, for a fruity, estery character.

It was distilled slowly for a clean, fruity spirit, the long ferment building a fruity, estery character. A Pedro Ximenez cask held it, shaping the honeyed spirit over the years. In integration lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the spirit, the green apple deepening to honey. The long ferment and clear wort give a fruity spirit that ages with grace. Its old weaving shed, once full of looms, is now a cool stone warehouse for the casks. Deanston is the only distillery in Scotland to generate all its own power from the river. The cool, even temperature of the old weaving shed gives a slow, steady maturation.

At a hearty 59.3% it carries real weight. Baked apple, honey and a creamy malt, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. Soft orchard fruit and honey sit behind the cask. It finishes long, waxy and warming. This is the soft, waxy malt of Doune.