The Deanston distillery is well-versed in making organic whisky at this point, and this 15 year old expression is the perfect example of its expertise. The distillers use organic certified barley as the base for the spirit, and mature it in new oak barrels before bottling it up at 46.3% ABV.
Buttery malt and cornflakes, with underlying cut grass fragrance.
Soft fruity notes develop on the palate - think apricot, quince and just a hint of grapefruit.
Lingering honey and marmalade.
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Biscuity malt, vanilla, red berries. Wonderful intense red wild berry nose, really wonderful. ~ ~ Dense malty palate. Hint of coffee. Vanilla again. Slight slight classy Scottish fustiness. Whiff of malt smoke - not at all peat like smoke, and very light. Big Oloroso. In fact, the sherry was a little extreme here I have to say. Astringent. Dare I say a bit tart. Too much for me. Now, what I did was to pour one-third of the bottle into what was left of my Ardbeg 1''0, which made it 2 parts Deanston, 1 part Ardbeg ~ ~ ~ ~ And the remaining two thirds into what was left of my Glenfarclas 2''1, which was down right below the bottom edge of the label, only a few glasses left. The Deanston brought it up to the top of the label. I then let them sit for a week. So, with the Ardbeg, I was obviously hoping to take that sharpish Oloroso down a notch while retaining the freshness and the smokiness of the peat. And it worked perfectly. The peat was still fully there, as you would expect, nice and mossy, about as smoky as the pure A10: and the sherry was no longer biting. Married together very well. Luxurious, expensive, soft, and very tasty. The Glenfarclas blend was just as impressive, if not more. With that little of the original bottle left I wasn't expecting to have more than a hint of it come through, but in fact what the D15 had done was to have gotten in there, pried it open, and unleashed the full force of the 'Farclas spirit! It's so sweet now, so apply, so direct-fired-stills-tasting, so Glenfarclas and caramelly, so rich and creamy, it's become more Glenfarclas than any Glenfarclas that ever was (in my opinion, and with no exaggeration.) Truly astounding! You should try it sometime. So, in closing, I would say that the Deanston 1''5 Organic is a very solid if, as it is out of the bottle, quiet, soft and fairly understated malt on the one hand: but also, again, per current batch, a somewhat overly Oloroso-ed one. It is most certainly a whisky that blends incredibly well (indeed very organically) with other whiskies, especially sherry matured ones, taking on the role of host and vehicle rather than being the the star of the show. As it is on its own, I would suggest that the 1''5 Organic is one for the hard core Deanston fanboys out there, the malt * hipsters * in the crowd - the craft-de-la-craft hunters, the special release Bruichladdich Islay Barley boys among us. 4 out of 5. Happy Burns' Night!
Lovely dram - a complex mix of crisp, fruity and balanced malt. A medium dash of water seemed to bring the flavours out. Recommended
