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Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Day 2 - Deanston 12 Year

Posted on November 12, 2023

KWM Whisky Advent Day 2 - Deanston 12 Year




For the first time in 4 editions of the Kensington Wine Market Whisky Advent Calendar, we are featuring an official bottling from the Deanston Distillery. Deanston is not a household name, even among whisky aficionados, but that is beginning to change. We  think this expression may give many of you a reason to stand-up and take notice of the fine malts coming from this distillery.

Deanston is a relatively young distillery by Scottish standards, and has only been producing whisky since the end of the 1960s. But the distillery’s roots and heritage go back almost a quarter of a millennium. Before it was converted into a distillery beginning in 1966, Deanston operated as a Mill with its own self-contained and governed community. The massive Deanston Mill was built in 1785 by Richard Arkwright to take advantage of the fast flowing River Teith. The mill was powered by one of the largest water wheels in Europe, and was one of four sites used for the development of the Cotton Jenny.

 



For almost two centuries, the Mill was a going concern, for a time issuing its own currency. By the middle of the 19th Century it employed 1100 people, some of them women and children. Employees were housed in homes built and owned by the Mill beginning in 1811. The manager of the cotton mill ws also the town’s defacto mayor. The “model town” had its own schools, post office, wash house, hospital, savings bank, grocery and shops. The Mill also built a fish ladder in the early 1800s to give Salmon access to the river upstream. The original fish ladder is still visible at the distillery.



Originally built to serve the demand for blended whisky brands, Deanston was bottled as a single malt for the first time in 1974. The distillery was closed in 1982, a victim of the downturn that savaged the industry in the 1980s. Burn Stewart Distillers, owners of Bunnahabhain Distillery, purchased and reopened the Deanston in 1990. The Distillery is still powered by the River Teith today, with vast amounts of surplus electricity sold on to the grid.



We love what Burn Stewart Distillers have done with the Deanston, Bunnahabhain and Tobermory brands. The firm has modernized their malt whiskies, bottling most of their range at or above 46%, and therefore without chill-filtering. They also do not add caramel colouring to alter the appearance of their whiskies. We’re fans of that honest approach to making whisky. Deanston is also starting to release some Organic expressions.

Deanston 12 Year – 46.3% - Matured in Ex-Bourbon - Andrew’s Tasting Note: “Nose: bright, fresh and fruity with fancy floral soaps; baked apple pie with a healthy dose of cinnamon; the fruits just keep coming, dried apricots, mango salsa and Midori melon liqueur. Palate: still bright, fruity, floral and malty; waxy and honeyed with loads of vanilla; the malt is laid down thick; treacle sauce and caramel corn; more dried apricots and baked apple and cinnamon pie in a very buttery crust; it is also a touch spicy with a picante mango salsa. Finish: medium-long, honeyed, fruity and toasty; the whisky has a soft oily body that ever so gently clings to the palate. Comment: this is an unsung malt, phenomenal value for its age, price and profile; we need to stock up...” – 700ml $70 and there are also minis 50ml $8

Stay Tuned for Kensington Wine Market Whisky Advent Day 2, tomorrow!Ex-Bourbon - Andrew’s Tasting Note: “Nose: bright, fresh and fruity with fancy floral soaps; baked apple pie with a healthy dose of cinnamon; the fruits just keep coming, dried apricots, mango salsa and Midori melon liqueur. Palate: still bright, fruity, floral and malty; waxy and honeyed with loads of vanilla; the malt is laid down thick; treacle sauce and caramel corn; more dried apricots and baked apple and cinnamon pie in a very buttery crust; it is also a touch spicy with a picante mango salsa. Finish: medium-long, honeyed, fruity and toasty; the whisky has a soft oily body that ever so gently clings to the palate. Comment: this is an unsung malt, phenomenal value for its age, price and profile; we need to stock up...” – 700ml $70 and there are also minis 50ml $8

 
 

This entry was posted in KWM Whisky Calendar 2017

 

 

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