Deanston 12 Years Old 2012 Season 16 (Cut Your Wolf Loose)

This Deanston was bottled by the bottler Cut Your Wolf Loose, a 12 year old, distilled in 2012, bottled at 55.8%, one of 552 bottles. Deanston is a honeyed, waxy Highland malt distilled beside the River Teith since 1966. The mill ran for 180 years before cotton declined and the site became a distillery.

The spirit was run through the bulbous stills with their upward sloping lyne arms, the long ferment building a fruity, estery character. Maturation came in a Port cask, layered over the fruity Deanston make. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the waxy, honeyed spirit growing rounder. A gentle maturation suits the soft make, the honey and wax growing richer with time. Deanston is the only distillery in Scotland to generate all its own power from the river. It runs an open top mash tun, two wash and two spirit stills of a bulbous shape.

At its natural 55.8% it is concentrated. Green apple, honey and a waxy malt, with red berry, plum and a dry spice from the cask. Pear, honey and a creamy malt fill the middle. A long, honeyed finish carries a green apple and a ginger spice. This is a Highland single malt of real character.