Deanston 14 Years Old 2009 Cask #HL 21160 (Old Malt Cask)

From the Glasgow bottler Hunter Laing, a 14 year old Deanston, distilled in 2009, from cask HL 21160, bottled at 50%, one of 220 bottles. Deanston is a bright, fruity Highland single malt distilled in a Victorian mill at Doune. The distillery sits on the River Teith near Doune, between Stirling and the Highlands.

Distilled slowly for a clean, fruity spirit, for the waxy, honeyed make Deanston is known for. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the honey. In integration lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the spirit, the green apple deepening to honey. The clean, fruity spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and honey to the fore. It uses 100% Scottish barley and bottles its malt unchillfiltered, with no added colour. River Teith water and a long ferment give the fruity, estery Deanston make. The waxy texture is the Deanston signature, carried through the years in cask.

At a natural 50% it is full and waxy. Green fruit, honey and a soft spice, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Soft orchard fruit and honey sit behind the cask. The finish runs long, fruity and warming. This is Deanston, the mill turned distillery on the Teith.