Pōkeno Single Cask Moscatel Sherry

Pōkeno Single Cask Moscatel Sherry is a single malt from Waikato, New Zealand, distilled on 3 April 2020 and bottled on 25 July 2024. This release comes from Moscatel sherry hogshead Cask 020, with a limited outturn of 350 bottles, bottled at 51.8% ABV.

Moscatel is a sweet wine style made from Muscat grapes, known for aromatic, fruit led intensity. In whisky maturation, Moscatel seasoned oak tends to push flavour in a dessert wine direction, driving grapey sweetness and syrupy fruit rather than the drier nut, leather and spice notes more typical of oloroso. Here that translates into honeyed grape, raisin and soft red fruit depth, backed by oak extractives that bring structure through spice and tannin grip.

At four years old, the distillate character remains prominent, keeping the profile distillate forward rather than fully rounded by age. Bottled at 51.8% ABV, the whisky carries weight and intensity, with Moscatel sweetness and oak structure running alongside a firm, warming finish.