Review 003 : Bimber Oloroso Cask Batch 2

Bimber Distillery is a London based whisky company that has a real cult following about it with most (if not all) of their releases selling out pretty quickly.

Bimber began life as the dream of true whisky lovers with the first casks being laid down on 26th May 2016. They attempt to make fine whisky using traditional methods and bring style and a high degree of clever marketing to the fore!

They have a single farm where 100% of their barley is grown. It is then traditionally floor malted, hand-mashed and fermented slowly for seven days in their wooden washbacks that were hand-made at their own cooperage. Then direct fire to heat the small copper pot stills before each is laid down in carefully selected casks.

I’ve been fortunate enough to get the odd one or two of them and this Oloroso finish is a fabulous whisky that is very enjoyable! Part of the reason they sell out is that most of their releases are small batch releases and this one was limited to 920 bottles. It is quite a punchy whisky at 51.7% and some may find adding a drop or two of water makes a difference.

It began life is carefully selected ex-bournbon oak casks before being finished off in Spanish Oloroso Casks which give it those spicy sherry notes. It has a tropical fruity flavour that is perfect for sipping on a warm summers evening.

These are the tasting notes from Bimber themselves and I am inclined to agree with them!

NOSE: Plump raisins and dried berries sit with vanilla cream, malt loaf and gingerbread men whilst dusty cinnamon joins a French crepe with a squeeze of lemon juice  

PALATE: Silky in texture with crushed red berries and quince jelly enriched by chocolate sauce and cracked walnuts. Banana bread and cinnamon swirls join golden syrup while roasted pineapples are tempered by fresh sweet sherry  

FINISH: Lingering ginger and anise spicing alongside fading berry sweetness

Unfortunately like most of their releases it is no longer available, but I would recommend you check them out sometime and get on their website/mailing list. Next month we are going to review their special Platinum Jubilee release