It’s that time of year ago and my third calendar from Master of Malt. Year 1 was scotch whisky, Year 2 was Single casks and after a break last year we are back with Boutique-y Whisky. This is the quarky brand from Master of Malt which includes funny, well executed artwork from Glasgow artist by Emily Chappell. Check out her website to see what else is in her portfolio.

Back to whisky though and the first window to open reveals a 24 year old Bourbon from an undisclosed distillery. This is by far the oldest Bourbon I have ever tried and at the time of writing is still available in the 50% off flash sale.

The Bourbon

This is a large release of 8000 bottles from an undisclosed distillery in America. The actual Bourbon hasn’t been in American for the 24 years stated on the label. After 12 years baking in the USA it was transported over for another 12 years in Scotland’s cooler climate. After those 12 years its been bottled at 48% without colouring or chill filtering for an RRP of £200 but if you are fast it could be yours for £100.

Tasting Notes

Colour – dark sherry

Nose – Thick caramel, brown sugar, eucalyptus with just a hint of mint and then a face cream type smell as well.

Palate – Medium texture with throat sweet giving a touch of acidity. Wood spices as you might expect from so long in wood, cinnamon, mint, dark chocolate and more brown sugar

Finish – Lots of spearmint now on a drying long finish. The mixture of spearmint does make it almost refreshing.

Final Thoughts

I have noticed this before that Day 1 is always a big hitting crowd-pleaser. A £200 by 50cl Bourbon is certainly going to give that. Would I pay £200 for it? Almost certainly I wouldn’t but Bourbon is a lot more expensive in the UK than Scotch for the most part so perhaps its unfair to focus on price too much. The actual liquid though is very good but I am by no means a Bourbon expert.