7 Jun 2019
4 Jul 2023
Sherry
A rare and seriously characterful Fielden release, The Heart Cut #16 is a 100% English rye whisky, crafted from a bold and unusual mash bill. A huge 75% of the grain is heritage landrace rye, grown in sandy Oxfordshire soils that lend a natural minerality and warmth. The remaining 25% is floor-malted rye from the esteemed Warminster Maltings, adding a malty richness and texture to the spirit. Distilled and matured with Fielden’s trademark precision, this whisky has been finished for 2 years and 4 months in a 600-litre Solera oloroso sherry cask, originally seasoned for 45 years in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. That’s a serious cask pedigree, and it shows.
Big salted caramel energy – think caramel sauce with smoked sea salt flakes stirred in. Notes of ice cream cone sweets and cinnamon waffles bring a nostalgic sweetness. Then come tropical fruit notes and crushed nuts, with a puff of earthy spice and a flicker of an aroma akin to a freshly sharpened No. 2 pencil.
Layers of spiced honey and red wine tannins coat the tongue, followed by rye spice, warming oak, and toasted cereal. There's a savoury salinity threading through it all, almost Manzanilla-like, with flashes of dried pineapple and clove.
Long, nutty, and complex, with a lingering warmth. A touch of dark chocolate, candied ginger, and that coastal, saline twang to the end.
This came second in the London Whisky Club blind tasting for whisky of the year, where top 10 were compared. I bought due to this fact, and wow, it's truly a special whisky. Salted caramel galore, delicious sweetness, combined with sticky sweet nutty sherry profile (very rare imo), with a rye spiceyness and pine element, that is beautifully balanced. Objectively delicious and incredibly complex dram, and everyone in my family loved it
