Deanston 12 Years Old 2009 Cask #111/2009 (The Old Friends)

This Deanston was bottled by the bottler The Old Friends, a 12 year old, distilled in 2009, from cask 111/2009, bottled at 53.1%, one of 327 bottles. Deanston is a green, honeyed Highland malt from the Teith valley, the only Scottish distillery to make its own power. It uses 100% Scottish barley and bottles its malt unchillfiltered, with no added colour.

Mashed in the open top tun and fermented long for a fruity make, for a clean, fruity spirit with a waxy edge. Finished in a Pedro Ximenez cask, the wood building over the green, waxy fruit. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into a rounded vanilla as ethyl esters lend a riper apple and pear. The cool, even temperature of the old weaving shed gives a slow, steady maturation. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. Maturing in the vaulted stone warehouse, the spirit develops slow and steady.

At a hearty 53.1% it carries real weight. A fruity, waxy sweetness, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. Pear, honey and a creamy malt fill the middle. The finish is long, waxy and gently spiced. This is Deanston, the mill turned distillery on the Teith.