Burns Stewart Distillers were busy last year with many new releases, from the 18yo for Deanston and Ledaig up to the 42yo Ledaig. I have found out (via Michael) that BSD official importer in Israel managed to bring a few crates of those new releases so it’s a good excuse to review some of them.

The first one on the operation table is the Deanston 18 Year Old. It was aged in hogsheads and then finished in first fill ex-bourbon casks for extra sweetness. As usual with BSD, it was bottled at the customary ABV of 46.3%

Deanston 18 Year Old (46.3%, £61.95/€107.50)

Nose: Cereals, porridge and butterscotch, sweet honey and creamy, light vanilla, hay and meadow, almost flowery (but not), hints of huge spice to come on palate with white pepper as a teaser, nutty/almonds, pears and peaches and sweet oak.

Palate: Creamy and spicy, white pepper, honey, cereals porridge, bread dough, hay and meadow, gentle oak wood spiciness, semi-dry yet maintain rich feeling

Finish: Medium length, gentle bitterness of oak with a touch of grapefruits, creamy sweet honey,

Thoughts: Surprisingly better than I expected as the sweetness from the first fill barrels finish is balanced elegantly with the oak bitterness. The bottle price in UK is very reasonable and would recommend one for that price but the price in Europe and in Israel (around 110 Euro) is too high. Too bad.