Wolfburn 2017 Single Cask

Wolfburn

Origin

Highland (Scotland)

Type

Single Malt Whisky

Barrel

Bourbon

Age

6 years

Alcohol

59,2°

Value

100 points

About the product

This single cask - bottling of Wolfburn was selected by Belgian importer The Nectar. The whisky matured for six years in an ex-bourbon barrel ( cask 2017#263) before being bottled at 59.2% (cask strength).

This whisky gives you a particularly good idea of what they think at Wolfburn about how whisky should be. The bourbon cask certainly did its job, without outstripping the quality of the base spirit. The result is a beautifully balanced and simply very tasty whisky.

On the nose, you will discover a wealth of light fruit. Fresh pineapple and apricot predominate, with a pleasant element of hay. An ensemble of aromas that gently blends with a touch of vanilla from the American oak. On the palate, this sumptuous mix of flavours continues. Black pepper joins the fruit basket, as well as tonka bean. Tonka bean is the fruit of the Dipteryx Odorata and carries a distinctly spicy mix of scents; think vanilla, almond, cinnamon and cloves. This gives it a wonderful extra spicy dimension.

Finally, the finish is straightforward and straightforward. It lingers for a long time, with a refreshing element of menthol and malt, on a base of creamy butter biscuits.

Beautiful, at once complex and complexless whisky from an exciting young distillery.

About the brand

Way up in the far north of the Scottish mainland, on the shores overlooking the Orkney Islands, you will find Wolfburn Distillery. It has only been there since 2013, but in the meantime it has already stolen the hearts of many a whisky lover. They do this through an uncomplicated approach and a focus on quality spirit aged in good casks. It is a fairly small distillery, with an annual capacity of just 135,000 litres. When it was founded, it was the most northerly distillery on the mainland, but in the meantime there are two more (smaller) distilleries just a little further north, with 8 Doors and North Point). Wolfburn doesn't really need that title though, the whisky speaks for itself.

At Wolfburn, they work with a small mashtun (1.1 tonnes) and four washbacks, in which fermentation takes between 70-92 hours. The copper stills have a capacity of 5,500 litres (wash still) and 3,600 litres (spirit still) respectively. Untasted whisky is mainly made at Wolfburn, although small amounts of tarted malt are also experimented with. A major milestone for the distillery was the launch of their very first whisky with an age statement for the standard range: the 10yo, launched in 2023, was met with good response from tasters around the world.

In addition to the 10yo, Wolfburn's base range includes a diverse range of flavour profiles, including the Northland (American oak, quarter casks), Aurora (bourbon and sherry casks) and the Morven (with a slight hint of peat). The consistently high quality of this base range is striking, and there are also a number of limited bottlings every year, which are also always worth discovering.