I’ve been following Wolfburn distillery for a while. I tasted a few spirits and whiskies-to-be and even visited them last summer. But it was all 2015 and now we’re deep into 2016 and Wolfburn whisky turned 3 year old, with the first commercial release already on shelves in many shops.
Let’s dig into the young whisky and see it can delivers us despite its youth.
Wolfburn 2016 Release (46%, £45.45/€44,95)
Nose: Smells nice and despite the youth notes in it, it smells older. Quite solid and dense nose with a lot of dust, citrus fragrance with lemon and a bit of lime, cereals, cookies dough, hints of white pepper and spices, creamy and rich. Continue reading
Nose: What a rich and dense nose. It’s pretty heavy with prunes, dried berries and fresh orange peels. Has that jammy/marmalade feel to it, wax and smoke, maybe even smoked wax?, sweet raisins, old library and furniture like visiting the grandparents, light mint spice shows up after a while along with some chocolate and coffee to balance the heavy fruitiness, feels quite fresh and lively. 
Nose: Classic Ardbeg peat and smoke, but not so ashy at first although this get rectified over time along with meat in sweet sauce and soot. Sweetness originating from the sherry casks – sweet red fruits, more fresh fruit than dried and with jammy edge. I quite like it as it’s not overpowering and there’s a good balance here. With water: sweeter with sherry notes taking the front seat. 
Nose: rich and velvety, caramel and toffee. A lot of sherry notes: soaked raisins, nutmeg and a bit of cinnamon, dried sour berries, dark chocolate. But it’s also carries some saltiness and some leather-ness (yeah, not a real word but you get the meaning, right?) after a while. 
Nose: A very sweet nose. nutty and somewhat winey with tannins, fruity with a lot of apricots. The peat is very restrained, cured BBQ meat, sweet smoke and generally the Kilchoman peat profile is right there in the background but muted. Again apricots and white pepper, not a very complex nose but it’s lovely, balanced and rounded.
Nose: That’s a classic nose with gentle smoke, light and round peat note, salty, floral and honey vanilla notes. Real mature and even relatively delicate. With water it becomes more bowmore-y yet still retains some of the floral perfume notes but it becomes oh so more mainstream and less unique. 
Nose: Soft peat smoke, rounded and surprisingly bodily and rich, cereals, soft ashes and brine. With extra time in glass it becomes much sweeter and fruity with added peaches and apricots. bonus point: the peat is stronger. 
Nose: Hmm, good fresh and fruit nose, feels very mature for its age, sweet gentle peat, fruity and reminds me the new make a lot, oily, honey and lemon. After a while additional smoke shows up with vanilla. 
Whisky Gospel 