Christmas Cake & Dark Chocolate & Medjool Dates & Cinnamon
8 Year Old | 48% ABV
Worth A Sip & Another & Another & Another
Whether it’s to do with my early days in website development and visual communication, or just the fact that I’m quite lazy, I have a bit of a soft spot for a good old ampersand.
However, what is it that makes using this silly squiggle '&' far more fancy and appealing than its three letter counterpart? Is it the feeling of superiority that you’ve etched into your brain how to draw one (I’ve just tried on my notepad and it took four attempts to look correct) or do we just like to keep our communication short? I mean txt tlk is still goin strong rght m8?
Yet, if short form is the answer, Atom Brands certainly didn’t get the memo when creating the ampersand range. For this bottle it is 49 characters long before we even got to the age statement. Though I wouldn’t dare say Atom Group (who created Atom Brands) don’t know what they are doing. These are the folk who rebooted the UK based online retailer Master Of Malt in 2008, created Bathtub Gin and launched the independent bottler with a penchant for 50cl bottles, That Boutique-y Whisky Company.
Interestingly on the back of this bottle it states Atom Labs, so I did some mild corporate espionage to find out why these Atoms seem to be everywhere around us. I believe I’ve finally managed to get my head around this molecular maze.
This bottle is the festive release of their ‘& Whisky’ line (you may have seen their Islay release of Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire or their 30yo grain release Butterscotch & Vanilla & Toast & A Generation).
This range was created by Atom Labs who are the “spirits innovation team” with their goal to create an accessible introduction for the enthusiastic new generation of whisky drinkers. From an interview with Pour & Sip (part of the same company) they stated they can go from ideation to a physical bottle in just six weeks and they’ll release small “seed batches” on to the Master Of Malt website to test the waters.
Atom Labs therefore comes under Atom Brands which does all the physical bottle releases. Atom Brands and Atom Group are different trading names of Atom Supplies Limited. Unless there are lizard people above that, I think that covers everything. I just hope the company doesn’t split.
Anyway, with their fingers in so many pies, you’d imagine they have access to some quite solid stock, which further offers the question: “What distillery am I?”
The word on the street is, and don’t ask me to confirm this but… there are quite a few distilleries in the Speyside region. I know… stop the presses and pause all the podcasts, but it’s true. Not sure if that is new information to you but, take from it as you will.
I tend to revel in the mystery when there is an undisclosed distillery afoot; however, for you readers of Dramface, I’ve dug my snout deeper into the muck to discover it’s a Speyside distillery that uses worm tub condensers, which may help to narrow it down.
Sam Simmons, the head of whisky at Atom Brands, was in charge of selecting the casks which are aged between 8 - 11 years old and described as “aged in Oloroso sherry casks”.
Now like Michael Bublé, whisky is for all year round and not just for Christmas, therefore I believe it’s fine to enjoy this whisky just days after the UK recorded its highest temperatures to date. And while it was specifically designed for Christmas sipping, they made only slight visual tweaks to the design of this bottle. A little gold foil writing here & some shiny holly there & a burgundy back drop. It doesn’t stray too far from the ‘& Whisky’ branding.
Interestingly, (well I think so) the whole naming convention and style of the range is based around a Beatles t-shirt design produced by an Amsterdam-based design firm - Experimental Jetset. It was a deconstruction of the band with the idea of puncturing through the world of images via only text. In a simple san serif font it listed the four members as “John & Paul & Ringo & George”. It was then followed with similar designs for The Rolling Stones and Ramones.
Soon the design structure became a pop culture staple with many people creating their own versions often using the same simple colour scheme of black and white.
“Won’t be long till we see Jackie & Bonnie & Clyde & Dallas & Wally & Dougie… T Shirt”
However, that’s enough ramblings of t-shirts and science let us get back to the whisky itself.
Review
Christmas Cake & Dark Chocolate & Medjool Dates & Cinnamon 8 Year Old, 48% ABV
£39.95 from Master of Malt
Nose
Immediately there’s a kick of petrichor, stone and slate which quickly rolls away to a wave of red berries, marzipan-laced fruit cake and super soggy prunes. Further wafts provide a dense rush of overfilled mince pies, dark chocolate and Jaffa Cakes. A real Boxing Day over indulgence in a glass.
Palate
The mouthful is chalky and leaves a perplexing residue on the inside of the mouth which clings to your cheeks after each sip. Among the chocolate orange sweetness there’s a herbaceous rosemary kick suspended in the mouth that cuts through the festive flavours. After a while all the flavours tend to muddle together on the palate into a more generic sherry cask blob with a mild finish of an After Eight dark mint chocolates.
The Dregs
I really wanted to avoid putting any of the notes in the name in the review, however they are dangerously accurate for my palate. Or more likely I’m like a magpie and highly susceptible to anything shiny.
To stare deeply into the facts of this bottle: an 8 year old age statement, un-chill filtered single malt which just about balances the sherry limits while avoiding overdoing it or dipping into the sulphur side. This is coming from a man who quite often finds he is stung by the sulphur sherry tang.
Like a well known paint company slogan, it does exactly what it says on the tin. Happy drinking, you filthy animals.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. GG
A Friday First
Help us choose who joins the team. This is a debut piece from Gilbert Gunn. If you enjoy his contribution to Dramface please share your feedback and perhaps a nice Dramface welcome in the comments!