Deanston Oloroso 2008
Oloroso Cask Matured Official Bottle | 52.7% ABV
When is a sherry bomb not a sherry bomb?
Like many of us, some of my first real hooks into whisky were big flavours.
Early on as I had started to enjoy and understand pleasant ‘entry-level’ malts such Glenfiddich 12, Glenmorangie 10, and Glenlivet 12, my first wow moments were with bottles like Lagavulin 16. Its big smoky richness was a hook from the get-go and sent me running down the peat road. But on my chase I stumbled upon another motorway of the contemporary whisky scene, that of the sherried single malt. My first stop on this road was a punt on a bottle of Glenmorangie Lasanta, courtesy of an offer at my local shop. In those days the 43% ABV didn’t give me a moment of pause like it might today, as I now lean towards 46% or above, even as I still do enjoy many 43 percenters.
That 12 year old malt, with its sherry-cask finish was a very pleasant discovery – the gently spicy richness, dried red fruits, cinnamon and soft smattering of other notes got me interested in what I soon discovered was an entire category of single malts affectionately known as “sherry bombs.” While, for me at least, the feeling of being hit in the face with explosives usually accompanies cask-strength Islay whiskies rather than the leather-chair-PX-sipping-tobacco-smoking feeling of sherried malts, I’ve always taken the “bomb” to refer to the extent of the usually-weighty influence of heavy sherry on the malt itself rather than first-degree palate burns of oaky ordinance.
As much attention as sherry bombs get these days, the way it’s often bandied about in conversation and commentary as a singular category actually belies what in reality is quite a varied type.
If 10 Dramface readers were asked to name their five favourite sherry bombs, chances are that there would be some common agreement, yet we’d also likely see some quite different candidates. Perhaps some common favourites might be Glenfarclas 15 or 105, the majority of Glenallachie, or Glendronach 12 or 15 – especially now that people seem to be coming back around to that distillery after the recent controversy, to name a few. But, we’d also probably see Aberlour A'Bunadh, Glengoyne Teapot Dram, something from Edradour’s sherried offerings, Tamdhu, Arran’s sherry casks, and a host of others. This isn’t even getting into the independent bottler territory. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, for example, has an entire flavour profile along these lines.
It’s a varied category: while, say, Glenfarclas 105 and Edradour 10 have some similarities due to maturation methods, they’re very different otherwise. Similarly, Arran Sherry Cask and Glenallachie 10 cask strength are cousins in terms of their sherry maturation, but their distinctive distillates usually puts them in very different families otherwise.
So what exactly makes a sherry bomb a sherry bomb? By definition sherry bombs must be matured or at least finished in ex-sherry casks, usually ex-oloroso or ex-Pedro Ximenez casks. We also see a variety of other types of sherry casks used in single malt, such as manzanilla, fino, amontillado, and palo cortado. This maturation or finish often imparts to single malt whisky some very distinct flavours, smells, and textures. Dark fruits, raisins, figs, leather, tobacco, Christmas cake, cinnamon, nuttiness, and darker colours are all common experiences with sherry bombs.
If you’ve never tried sherry, you might pop down to your local supermarket and pick up a £6 small bottle of PX, as I did recently. It was fascinating drinking a bit of super-sweet syrupy PX alongside some of my sherried malts for comparison. Fun stuff like this can teach us a lot about what flavours carry through maturation, how those flavours change when married with spirit, and how the spirit amplifies many of the notes and textures we enjoy.
Then there are other heavily sherried single malts that are often not mentioned in discussions about sherry bombs. One of my favourite categories usually doesn’t come up here: peat and sherry. Is Ardbeg Uigeadail a sherry bomb? Is Kilchoman’s Loch Gorm? Is Benromach’s Peat Smoke Sherry Cask? They’re all heavily sherried to varying degrees, but not often included in conversations about sherry bombs. So does “sherry bomb” mean classic sherry flavours without the contaminating influence of peat? The Uigeadail is wonderful precisely because the extra sherry influence works so well with the powerful Ardbeg distillate. Maybe that’s why I and others like it so much: it’s a balanced dram. The peat and sherry are co-equal partners in delivering an enjoyable and memorable – a “wow” – experience.
So, can one have a balanced sherry bomb or is this simply an oxymoron? Can a whisky strike a balance between the particular and idiosyncratic character of a distillery’s spirit and the powerful influence that an ex-sherry cask can bring? Do sherry bomb fans want a balanced dram? Of course, many people like sherry bombs precisely because they’re not balanced. The character and sheer versatility of barley distilled spirits means that they work so wonderfully well as sherried expressions. Yet the range of sherried malts is so varied that for those of us who love a more of a cooperative relationship between spirit and sherry there are many different experiences to be explored and savoured.
Review
Deanston 2008 Oloroso Cask Matured, 52.7% ABV
£80 & occasional availability
This Deanston, distilled in 2008 and released as a limited edition in 2021 (although still available, including some recent offers on the initial £80 RRP), bottled at cask strength 52.7%, is, I would submit, is a sherry bomb without being a sherry bomb.
Nose
Rich, strong spiciness, a bit leathery but also slightly creamy, spicy dark cherries.
Palate
The rich spiciness carries through big-time; honey, malty, dried fruits and booze-soaked raisins. The oloroso spiciness nicely amplifies the malty honey-ness and slight grassiness and barley sugar of the Deanston spirit’s signature. The finish is medium to long, with Christmas cake spices and warmth lingering.
The Dregs
The nose is strong and the palate arrives even stronger - even a bit stronger than the 52.7% might suggest - as the excellent casks used here certainly did their job. There’s great balance between the character of the spirit and the influence of the cask. Deanston’s signature honey maltiness and light fruits works so well with the rich spiciness of the oloroso casks that the casks work to complement and amplify here rather than dominate and overload. This isn’t a cask-driven whisky like so many other of this type. It is a sherry bomb, as many of the classic notes as such are definitely here delivering a strong sherried experience, but as the spirit is still manifestly there as a co-star rather than a minor side character, it’s also not a sherry bomb, which is what makes this an excellent one to look out for whether you’re a Deanston fan or a “bomber” yourself.
Score: 8/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DD
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