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KWM 2023 Whisky Calendar Blog Day 22 - Berry's Dailuaine 2010 KWM Cask

Posted on December 22, 2023

by Evan

It has been a long while since Dailuaine was featured in one of our KWM Whisky Calendars. I had to look it up, and the last time was I believe in 2017. The bottle of Dailuaine featured in that edition was also a KWM Cask – a 12-year-old from Cadenhead.

This current Dailuaine KWM cask that we selected from Berry Bros. & Rudd is also a 12-year-old, but the casks it was matured in were a touch different. Both of these KWM picks started their life in what was likely ex-Bourbon or refill casks, but the Berry’s KWM Cask of Dailuaine we are tasting today was finished in something a little bit different: and ex-Vin Santo cask.

To be honest, I don’t recall ever having a whisky finished in a Vin Santo cask previously. I may have tasted one or two long ago, but so far back my memory is fuzzy on it. That might not mean much since my recollections of my past have never been sharp enough even cut through melting butter, so take that for what it is. Anyhow! What is Vin Santo is the question I believe we were all collectively asking, right?

Vin Santo is an Italian fortified dessert wine. The name Vin Santo translates to ‘holy wine’ so apparently that means Italians like the stuff. The Italian dessert wine is most often made in the region of Tuscany, and can be made using red or white grape varieties. The wine usually exhibits fruity, nutty and perfumed aromas with plenty of dried fruit notes ranging from orchard to tropical to red in variety on the palate, depending on the grape used to make it.

It is a sticky, viscous wine with an alcohol content typically reaching between 14% and 19%. The method for making Vin Santo is typical to making Italian red wine from the Veneto region called Amarone, if you are familiar with that. After the grapes are harvested, they are left dry out, either hanging from wires in bunches or laid out on mats for months, allowing them to shrivel and rasinate; losing much of their water content but maintaining and concentrating the sugar levels. This drying method is usually referred to as ‘appasimento’ or ‘passito’.

After the grapes are well and thoroughly dried/rasinated, the juice from them is pressed out and put in special barrels called Caratelli, where the contents are left to ferment. Fermentation itself is also a long and slow process, often taking multiple years to complete. The resulting Vin Santo wine that is bottled can range from dry to very sweet in style.

Why did the folks at Berry Bros. & Rudd select this style of cask to finish this whisky in? We have not been told, and we have not asked, but my guess is that the grassy, waxy, and fruity style that Dailuaine typically shows was thought to be enhanced and built upon with the nutty, fruity and floral complexity an ex-Vin Santo cask offered. The democratic collective of whisky lovers at Kensington Wine Market is not known for selecting wine-cask-finished whisky for our own store picks, so there must be something special going on here, right?

So, let’s all grab a glass and find out what happens when you the take water of life and finish in a cask that once held holy wine!

Berry's Dailuaine 2010 KWM Cask - 54.9%

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Waxy and dessert-like with notes of Apple sauce, peach cobbler, chamomile tea, lemon custard, assorted pastries, pistachio nuts, muddled mint leaves, and a touch of white rum.

Palate: Almond paste, ripe pear and peach slices, raisins, shortbread, more lemon custard and more pistachios, glazed doughnuts, plus a touch of ginger ale and ground pepper.

Finish: Smooth, nutty and pastry-driven with a hint of spice on the fade.

Comment: I don’t have a lot of experience with Vin Sant casks finishes, but this is a wonderfully dessert-like dram. The Vin Santo cask marries wonderfully with the Dailuaine spirit.

Cheers,
Evan
evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Facebook & Instagram: @sagelikefool

You can find all blog posts for Kensington Wine Market’s 2023 Whisky Calendar Here

This entry was posted in Whisky, Whisky Calendars, Independent Bottler, KWM Single Cask, KWM Whisky Calendar 2023

 

 

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