A Scot on Scotch

WHISKY REVIEWS, NEWS, HISTORY & FOLKLORE

Brave New Spirits

Brave New Spirits is an independent bottler, blender and future-distiller, based in Glasgow. Their Whisky of Voodoo range showcases small-batch single malt and single grain whiskies. The distilleries responsible for producing the whisky are left undisclosed but the spirit is bottled at natural strength and each bottle carries an age statement.

Mask of Death Batch #2

Mask of Death is a Speyside Single Malt from an undisclosed distillery, aged 10 years in virgin oak and first-fill bourbon barrels. It’s bottled at 55% abv.

Tasting notes: The nose shows honeycomb and malt and breakfast cereals. Grist and muesli with new oak and tinned fruit cocktail. A wee touch of wood varnish. All the aromas of a well-stocked spice rack. Toffee arrives on the palate, followed by fizzy sweets. Pear drops. Turns oaky in the latter stages with a generous helping of woody spice. Creamy malt and vanilla emerge as it moves into the finish and creme brulee and coconut linger.

Thoughts: A decent everyday malt with plenty of oak impact. You get the nice vanilla toffee character from the bourbon casks and then the virgin oak adds an additional layer of vibrant spice. There’s a hint of a lighter, fruitier spirit underneath the casks and maybe I’d have liked to see a bit more of that coming through but it’s enjoyable enough as it is. A solid rather than spectacular dram.

Price: £62. A reasonable asking price for a decent malt but don’t think it captured my attention enough to rush out and buy one.

The High Priest

This is an 8-year-old single malt from an undisclosed Orkney distillery (I wonder what it could be?!). It’s been matured in first-fill Bordeaux wine barriques. It’s bottled at 52.6%.

Tasting notes: Lots of wood spice on the nose, backed up by toffee. Then a burst of red fruits and berries. Raspberry and cherries. There’s a sweet barbecue sauce note in there and a charred oak note that gives it a meaty character. Underneath the wine, there’s some gristy malt and honey. The palate follows a similar path with the meatiness, although there’s more smoke. Cherries, cranberries and raspberries. Plums. Dusty ash and charcoal. Some tingly, peppery heat.

Thoughts: This is a big-flavoured dram. The red wine really brings the party and, especially on the palate, combines well with the light smokiness. A wee splash of water toned down the dry spice and amped up the vibrancy of the red wine. It also seemed to increase the oiliness of the mouthfeel. No bad thing. This is an excellent wee dram.

Price: £70 – £75. Not the most affordable 8-year-old on the market but not too bad for a character dram from a beloved distillery. I’m very tempted to pick it up myself – and I can’t give a bigger compliment than that.

For more about Brave New Spirits visit here

About A Scot on Scotch

Contact