Finlaggan Red Wine Cask

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 46% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

For Finlaggan Red Wine Cask, red wine casks shape the entire maturation: the freshly distilled spirit was filled into Hogsheads that had previously held Rioja red wine. This is therefore a full maturation rather than simply a final finish. The casks from Spain’s Rioja region bring rich, mouth-filling berry fruitiness to this heavily peated Islay single malt.

The whisky takes its coppery, rose-gold colour from the oak; no colouring is added. It is bottled at 46% without chill filtration. The edition was introduced in April 2019, with an initial batch of 7,000 bottles.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, sweetish peat smoke mingles with red berry aromas.
• Palate: On the palate, smoked bacon, strawberries and plums sit alongside sea salt and dense, earthy peat. Tannins recall grape skins and lend the flavour an astringent edge.
• Finish: Sweetish smoke lingers throughout the long finish.

Distillery/Bottler:

Finlaggan is the brand of The Vintage Malt Whisky Company Limited, based in Milngavie near Glasgow. Brian Crook founded the company in 1992 after many years as an export director in the whisky industry. As an independent bottler, it offers whiskies from various Scottish distilleries; alongside Finlaggan, its range includes The Cooper’s Choice single-cask series. Finlaggan Red Wine Cask comes from an unnamed distillery on Islay.

The name Finlaggan refers to the historic seat of the Lords of the Isles on Islay. The Macdonald rulers were inaugurated on islands in Loch Finlaggan; the chiefs of Clan Donald made the site their residence and the centre of their rule.

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