Deanston 15yo Tequila Cask
Versus Chivas Tequila 13yo | 52.5% ABV
Temperance isn’t always a scary word.
We have all heard the now oh-so-famous quote from George Mallory who quipped in reply to a reporter’s question as to why he wanted to climb Everest:
“Because it’s there.”
No doubt, for Mallory, there was also thrill, exhilaration and a sense of accomplishment. I am guessing; I’ve never been a thrill-seeker myself. I’m definitely going to be that person that when on the Southern tip of New Zealand’s south Island rather sits and watches the bungee-jumpers for hours not, at any point, tempted to actually strap in and leap. Perhaps more a voyeur than a voyager. With regards to thrill-seeking and very much the notion of ‘Because it’s there’ I know what I am most comfortable with.
You don’t have to do everything.
Which so very cleanly and neatly, ahem, brings me onto the use of all and every available cask type in the whisky industry.
Why use emptied Tequila casks? Because they are there! As I hinted at on my recent article about colour, most casks are now available, with a few exceptions, for producers and bottlers to experiment with and these all have a myriad of effects. Without the plethora and globe-spanning variation of casks to use, brands, and Deanston is a great example, would be so limited in maximising shelf space and offerings.
I am very much reminded of an episode of Masterchef. I think the world gets a variation of this show now - some countries with Gordon Ramsay but often, if you’re really lucky, a different chef. The UK has Gregg Wallace, who was a green grocer, not a chef, and likes everything sticky, full of fat and covered in sauce.
In the episode of Masterchef that I’m recalling, the contestants are given a table of ingredients from which to make a meal. It’s a simple concept. Once the allotted time is up, one contestant presents to the judges an absolute burial-mound of a pie covered with potato (three ways) and four separate cheeses. The judges, who can barely part their shiny teeth to allow any of this gloop that appears dredged from the bottom of the Nile to enter their most valuable palates, are lost for words. When one finally asks why there are thirty different ingredients, potatoes three ways and four cheeses on this vassal of a satanic spread, the contestant simply responds:
“I thought we had to use all of the ingredients.”
Ok, that’s a better analogy if we were talking about a mashed up blend, but the whole cask-finishing thing is a trial and error process. Some work, some don’t. You don’t have to release them all just because you’ve got them.
We get to know the one’s we like and the one’s we don’t. I seem to have an issue with Tokaij finished casks often giving me a sulphur hit or worse; that dreaded baby-sick. I’m also averse to long maturation in first fill ex-red wine – especially big reds like Amarone and Barolo. Stout finishes are also much of a pass from me.
With regards to Tequila casks, the jury is still out. I gave Chivas Regal a rather large ‘benefit of the doubt’ when they released their 13 year old Tequila Cask Selection Extra (or is ‘Chivas Regal Extra Tequila Cask’?). In fact let’s try them head to head, despite being able to buy three bottles of the Chivas to one Deanston.
The point I am trying to make is that at some point during the selection and planning stage there needs to be that voice at the back that goes ‘hang on – I know we’ve already re-racked these casks, and they weren’t cheap, and we’ve spent so long watching them mature, but don’t you think they’ve turned out a bit, well, shit? We wouldn’t want this drab, overpriced and rather rough bottling to represent the brand would we?’
The point of difference needs to be a reveal to the consumer. You can’t promise to make the lady in the leotard disappear only to pull back the curtain and she’s still there. Or worse, she’s drowned in the tank. Terrible analogy, but hopefully you get my meaning.
In essence cask finishes are tricks:- ‘Now the whisky is not good enough, and hey Presto, now it is interesting!” That’s fine, everybody loves a bit of magic but it must woo and wow us. If the trick doesn’t work, put it back in the box or to bring it back to the whisky world; blend it away.
Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating as Bertolt Brecht often said – although what he probably said was “Du, du hast”… maybe, it would’ve made his plays slightly more bearable.
Review 1/2
Deanston 15yo, Tequila Cask Finish, 52.5% ABV
£95 and still available
Nose
A hint of the nose-prickling, vinaigrette-esque notes that one associates with Tequila – but just a hint. This reminds me of those ex-Islay cask finishes from the likes of Glen Moray and Balvenie – a salty whiff that makes it almost coastal (and writing this so close to the Pulteney write-up of the 15yo Woodrow’s bottling there is a definite similarity on the nose). Never would I have guessed this to be a Deanston but it’s not a competition thankfully. Underneath that salt & pepper seasoning top note is some light caramel, malt and oak. Definite hints of salted-Shortbread; “How it should be!”, according to a B&B owner I stayed with once – I seem to recall she had not one but five stuffed dogs in glass presentation cases. I was instructed not to touch any of them – such an odd request. Had there been guests previously that had tried to touch them? Anyway, I digress. With some air the nose reveals a bit of Golden Syrup – for our international listeners, just think liquid sugar.
Palate
Surprisingly soft at first. This is not cask strength but at 52.5% it is not watered down by anyone sane’s standards. The sweet malt is there, some oak, a hint of bitterness and a mere whisp, a glance, a nod if you like to the Tequila cask. It definitely comes back a touch more in the finish which is slightly hot but nothing I can’t handle (being borderline sane). Had you given me this blind I would have sworn it was an 8-10 year old Speyside finished for about a month in an ex-Islay cask.
Second, or third, maybe fourth sip and I’m getting a bit more vegetal earthiness on the palate – think extremely mild Mezcal – and I’m not averse to it – feels like it is giving the dram a bit more body.
The Dregs
Deanston has come alive over the past five to ten years. It was relatively unknown for far too long and I seem to recall that for a while it was only readily available through Marks & Spencer’s – I bought one on release and found it to be gritty, earthy and frankly disappointing. Then a change occurred and not only did the visitor centre open but the whisky started to sing – someone was paying it the real attention it deserved.
The Chronicles bottling was sublime and several others including the 21yo Organic have really put the distillery in a new light. Whilst this 15 year old is not a bad whisky it just doesn’t offer much to the drinker; certainly not in terms of real difference.
It is certainly not screaming 15 years in wood. I very much wish to reward the natural colour (which must have had some of the old guard shudder “A 15 year old whisky that isn’t mahogany – how will it sell?”) and higher strength but at a nudge under a hundred GBP there are just a sea-load of drams that offer considerably ‘more’.
Knock more than a third off the price and the score is definitely heading north.
Score: 5/10
Review 2/2
Chivas Regal Extra 13yo, Blended Scotch Whisky, Tequila Cask Selection, 40% ABV
£30 often on offer
Nose
Pear skin. Appley. The barest hints of white pepper and touch of pastry or whatever it is that the sandwich chain Subway pumps out into the open air in such quantities that it only disappears when you get close enough to a McDonalds.
Palate
There is nothing wrong with this. The grain element is adding a nice vanilla-creaminess and there is enough malt flavours to keep the palate interested. It’s a fine easy drinker – not one for thinking about just an easy sipper. Not much by way of body or finish but again it’s just a pleasant-enough moment - not an off-note in sight.
The Dregs
This is not expensive and almost likely not aimed at me and thee.
I do like the pushing of the blend boundaries and enticing drinkers into a world of exploration but, first, centre, up front and standing to attention Don’t Highlight A Finish That Only A Highly Trained Sniffer Dog Could Bleeding Well Detect! Sorry, I hate the Capitals thing but really… I’m left exasperated.
Either I have anosmia for Tequila notes (which I doubt as I really, really enjoy a good Tequila) or this blend is missing that one rather salient piece of its self-proclaimed puzzle; any hint whatsoever that it has been in a Tequila cask.
Who knows - maybe I’m being harsh, maybe the final blend was redolent with the aroma of deep Agave, conjuring up large Sombreros and corn tortillas. That was until the watering and chill-filtering crew came along and ripped the guts out of the magnificent blend leaving the wafer-thing remnants of vanilla and barley.
A massacre of the Mexican influence. Adios amigos. Hasta luego taste, body and agave flavours. Buenos dias banality.
Score: 3/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. FF
Other opinions on this:
Got a link to a reliable review? Tell us.