Deanston 10 Years Old 2008 Cask #900073 (Signatory)

A Deanston of a 10 year old chosen by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, distilled in 2008, from cask 900073, bottled at 67.6%, one of 599 bottles. Deanston is a Highland single malt, unchillfiltered and made from Scottish barley near Stirling. The mill ran for 180 years before cotton declined and the site became a distillery.

Run through the bulbous stills with their upward sloping lyne arms, building the honeyed Deanston style. It was matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood working slowly into the waxy malt. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the waxy, honeyed spirit growing rounder. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. The long ferment and clear wort give a fruity spirit that ages with grace. It runs an open top mash tun, two wash and two spirit stills of a bulbous shape. The clean, fruity spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and honey to the fore.

At 67.6%, undiluted, it is deep and honeyed. Honey, malt and a gentle clove, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a gentle clove lift it. It finishes long, waxy and warming. This is a waxy, honeyed Highland single malt.