Annandale Rascally Liquor Unpeated New Make Spirit 63.5%
From the distillery website
What is Rascally Liquor? An unaged clear malt spirit so splendid, distinctive and rascally, we kept it back from the cask and wrestled it straight into a bottle.
Pure and clear, it's made with just three ingredients - malt, yeast and water, and distilled in Annandale's twin copper pot stills, producing a young spirit with real character. Sip on its own or muddle into your favourite whisky cocktail for a contemporary twist.
Situated in the heart of Dumfries-shire, the story behind the reopening of Annandale distillery after almost 90 years is a fascinating one, as is the journey they took in developing a specific identity for the new distillery spirit. In doing so, they wanted to challenge the typical notions of the light, fruity Lowland whisky character and bring back some of the flavours of bygone days when peat kilning was in use in the region.
The name 'Rascally liquor' apparently comes from a letter from Robert Burns in 1788 to a friend, where he described local whisky as "...a most rascally liquor, and by consequence only drank by the most rascally part of the inhabitants"
Tasting Notes:
Appearance: Colourless, oily and viscous forming a thin line which slowly beads before eventually falling as slow, thin legs.
Nose: Orange zest, malted milk biscuits, hints of dark berries.
Palate: Creamy malt, citrus fruit, green apple, honey sweetness, gentle notes of dark berried fruit and white pepper spice. The addition of a little water brings out more of those berried fruit notes.
Finish: White pepper, malt and a little bitter orange linger on the palate.
Summary: I always enjoy trying new make spirit as it gives you a real idea of the distillery DNA and how that carries through the maturation process. This one is full of creamy malt and citrus notes together with a hint of blackcurrant and blackberry. At 63.5% you would expect it to be alcohol forward but in this case it’s very drinkable neat, a little water helps to open things up and allow more fruity notes to come through.
Rascally Unpeated is a very enjoyable new make, and one which makes me look forward to trying more from the range. This was purchased from the distillery during a flying visit, and is also available in a more sedate 46% abv version from the online shop.
If you would like more information on this spirit, or the fascinating history and ethos behind the Annandale distillery, I would strongly recommend a visit to the company website.
