From William Grant comes Aerstone Sea Cask, a 10 year old single malt hailing from the Ailsa Bay Distillery. Its decade of maturation wasn't spent quite in the sea, though those maritime notes were still soaked up thanks to its ageing process in warehouses by the sea on the Ayrshire coast in Scotland.
Buttery toffee, creamy vanilla, freshly baked shortbread, honeyed malt, orange citrus and a dusting of cinnamon and cocoa.
Floral malt, nougat, vanilla sponge and more honey, with orange sweeties, icing sugar and earthy oak.
Notes of clove, candied lemon and vanilla pod linger, as a pinch of salt appears on the finish.
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Absolutely superb
I know taste is subjective, but this tastes like a bog standard bottle of Grants to me. I was bought this by a family member with a nose for a bargain, who'd seen it on sale at £12.50. For that price, it's fine. But I wouldn't venture to say I'd reach for this over, I don't know... a bottle of Aldi's £15 single malt. Start comparing it with £30 malts and this is rough as a badger's arse - as they say.
Bootifull
Fair to say I've drunk a goodly amount of whisky in my 5 decades. With my bottle freshly opened: top notes of malt and oak dominate the nose, with light honey and even lighter spice revealing themselves after a few minutes. I've chosen to drink it neat to begin with. The taste closely matches the smell. A decent finish with some slight oiliness lingering in the mouth. (It does have some 'legs' when moved around in the glass.) A very pleasant after taste to be truthful. Sea Cask is not embarrassing itself, but is one dimensional for an aged malt. For a sipping whisky there is enough to interest a casual 'malt man' such as myself, but possibly falls a fraction short of others that I prefer (including NAS singles). Having said that, I can honestly say I'd feel perfectly complimented to have this offered as a guest. An important footnote: the nose and taste definitely improved being in the glass 15 minutes; and I warmed to it even more with the minutest addition of water. In fact adding a few drops of water has easily given Aerstone Sea Cask its best expression. Found my bottle at £20 which is almost a steal.
Well I'm always on the lookout for a bargain and reduced to £20 thought I'd give it ago. Of course taste is subjective but it seemed fairly unlovely and a tad harsh on the aftertaste. Reasonable value if reduced in price by an extra 50% IMHO!
