Valinch & Mallet Worthy Park Sainte Catherine 2007

Bottled by Valinch & Mallet under its Sainte Catherine label, this is a twelve year old Worthy Park distilled in 2007. Worthy Park is a 100 percent pot still, single estate house in St. Catherine with a clean, precise style and moderate esters drawn from fermentation alone, but this particular cask drinks against type.

Maturation in ex-bourbon has pulled the spirit in a drier, oakier direction than usual. The nose promises fruit, banana, pear and red fruits, while the palate is firmly dry, woody and spicy with orange peel and a pronounced bitterness running into the finish. Bottled unsweetened at 56.6 percent, it is an interesting, slightly unconventional Worthy Park for drinkers who enjoy the more austere, wood led corner of the estate's output.