Teaninich 15 Years Old 2007 Single Cask Cask Strength (Hart Brothers)

Single malt Teaninich, an independent Hart Brothers bottling matured to 15 year old from 2007 and bottled at 53.6%. Teaninich was founded in 1817 by a Napoleonic veteran in the northern Highlands at Alness, and it is rarely seen as a single malt in its own right. Fat copper stills add an oily texture to the clean, grassy spirit.

The spirit was run from a clear wort through the distillery's tall stills, to build a clean, waxy, grassy character. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, with vanilla under the grassy spirit. Around the mid teens the malt gains a fuller, oilier body over the grass. The unpeated spirit lets the wood and the green fruit speak without smoke. Almost all of its make is destined for blends rather than single malt. A hammer mill and mash filter, installed in 2000, replaced the traditional mash tun. That ultra clear wort is the source of Teaninich's fragrant, green tea grassiness.

At a natural 53.6% it is full and oily. A grassy, waxy freshness sit alongside soft vanilla and honey from the cask. It is fresh and oily, the fruit and oak well matched. The finish is waxy, green and lively. This is the green tea malt of Easter Ross.