Deanston 12 Years Old 2009 Cask #900003 (Best Dram)

The bottler Best Dram bottled this Deanston, a 12 year old, distilled in 2009, from cask 900003, bottled at 53.2%, one of 271 bottles. Deanston is a Highland malt made in a vaulted stone mill, waxy and malty in style. Its wash is fermented long, for a fruity, estery character.

Distilled slowly for a clean, fruity spirit, giving the soft, malty Highland spirit. 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. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. Unchillfiltered and at natural colour, it keeps the full waxy body in the glass. The site was the Adelphi cotton mill, built in 1785 by Sir Richard Arkwright and turned to whisky in 1965. River Teith water and a long ferment give the fruity, estery Deanston make.

At a hearty 53.2% it carries real weight. Green fruit, honey and a soft spice, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. Soft orchard fruit and honey sit behind the cask. The finish is rounded, honeyed and gently spiced. This is the cotton mill malt of the River Teith.