Fruit bomb

I distinctly remember attending a tasting at a distillery about a decade ago where I was assured that 80 per cent or more of a whisky’s flavour comes from the wood it’s matured in. If you are new to whisky, or if you do not yet trust yourself and the memories of drams you have tasted over the years to form an opinion on the subject, that number might not shock you and you might not challenge it. Until you discover peated whisky, that is… but that’s by the by, as it’s not what we are talking about today. Ultimately, though a cask is absolutely essential for flavour development in whisky, it doesn’t take long to realise that such clear-cut statistics are at best an over-generalisation.  

FRUITY, EXOTIC AND ORCHARD-INSPIRED FLAVOURS

So, in the spirit of putting my money (or malt in this case) where my mouth is, let’s have a look at our latest ‘Heresy’ offering, Batch 40: Fruit bomb. No clever play on cask types this time, just a range of first fill bourbon matured whiskies put together to make a point. All whiskies in this recipe come from distilleries producing highly fruity and estery whiskies full of character that together deliver a barrage of fruity, exotic and orchard-inspired flavours. If you look for the cask influence, you’ll easily find it, but it certainly isn’t the star of this particular show.

The whiskies selected for this recipe come from three distilleries, two in in the Highlands making up the bulk and one cask from a Speyside distillery also renowned for its pear drops and fruit-laden profile. Both Highland distilleries in question produce whiskies that are fruity to the extreme, but not quite on the same bandwidth in the fruit spectrum. Combining them felt like a good way to supercharge flavours by delivering the widest, fullest punchy fruitiness we could.

CASKS PLAYING A SUPPORTING ROLE

Let’s go back to the cask type for a second: first fill bourbon casks are casks previously used once to mature bourbon whisky in the US before being shipped over to Scotland for the purpose of maturing Scotch whisky. This process blunts the woody, intense edge that new oak casks can have, leaving a cask that is fairly new, active and not too overpowering for us to use.

Indeed, generally speaking, because these casks can only be used once for bourbon, and because of the different climate in bourbon production areas, the maturation profile in the US can be quite different, so these casks are used for shorter periods than similar casks would be for Scotch whisky. These imported casks are generally associated with vanilla, coconut and spicy notes of cloves and subtle smoke.

While these are labelled “first fill”, the rule of thumb is that they are more relaxed and less woody than new oak or sherry and wine casks but still yield a good flavour impact on a whisky. This is not what stands out here, however. The bourbon casks, though active, only play a support role, with coconut and creamy vanilla flavours helping the other flavours merge and meld together.

A FUN, SUMMERY AND GENEROUS JOURNEY

Though you may find the influence of these bourbon casks in Batch 40: Fruit bomb, it is a whisky dominated by estery, fruity, summery flavours. From the spirit side of the equation, flavours of peaches, red apples, pineapple cubes, peach yogurt, ripe banana porridge and dried apricots are all on the menu, and on the spicy cask side of things, vanilla, coconut, coriander seeds and white pepper help lift up the opulent and generous fruit basket.

Though we have reduced the strength to 50% abv, don’t feel you need to be shy with water, this dram takes it really well delivering digestives and cocoa powder kiwi and strawberries, all washed down with champagne, Pimm’s cup and white sangria.

Over the years, I have learnt that where whisky is concerned there is often more than meets the eye, and it is safer not to extrapolate too much. While it may be true that some casks and some spirits tend to produce certain results when put together, working with living materials such as oak makes results unpredictable.

So sometimes it’s good to remember that whisky is not just about the cask. It is also about spirit characteristics that many too easily consign to a secondary role. Forget about blanket statistics and certainties and let Batch 40: Fruit bomb take your palate on a fun, summery and generous journey. Try it neat, dilute it, make a highball with it: it’s a dram with many facets that will reward you however you chose to enjoy it.