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Whisky Review: Chapter 7 19-Year-Old Highland Single Malt

We review Chapter 7 19-year-old Highland Single Malt, an independently bottled vatting of two casks of anonymous single malt from Scotland.

OVERALL RATING

8
$160.00
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Tasting Notes

About:

Made by an undisclosed Highland distillery, aged in two sherry casks for 19 years blended together at cask strength of about 56.2% ABV and sold for at least $160 per bottle.
Appearance:
Pale golden amber, much lighter and watery-looking than average, but not outlandishly so.
Nose:
The first sniff begins sweetly like baked apples in a pie with faint undercurrent of caramel. That takes a bit of a spicier turn with notes of oak, allspice, sandalwood and a hint of smoke.
Palate:
Undiluted entry starts with the flavor of a very rich, earthy caramel with a faint nuttiness to it. That quickly shifts to a rapidly-building spicy character reminiscent of clove and cinnamon, which is much more potent than normal, given the relatively high alcohol content. Swallowing brings sweet, nutty, caramel-like lull before the spice builds back up again, crescendos and tapers off to leave a smokey, caramel residue coating the tongue. I also tried adding a few drops of water to a subsequent dram, which blunted the spiciness on the front end along with all of the other aspects; so I advise against diluting this one.
Finish:
Comments:
While this 19-year-old Highland was a bit harsher than I normally like – to be fair, I tend to favor a sweet, Speyside – I really enjoyed the journey a dram of this whisky took me on, with sweeter notes waxing into spicy flairs, then waning back into sweetness. Although the undiluted intensity kept it from dazzling me into a perfect score – again I’m biased toward sweeter Scotch – this is still a great bottle worthy of sample if you can find it and afford this pricey bottle.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

Aaron Knapp

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