Hazelburn 12 Sherry Wood (2023) - 49.9%

 

From the distillery 

The Hazelburn Sherry Wood is an annually released limited edition matured exclusively in Oloroso Sherry casks.

The annually released Hazelburn Sherrywood range provides a stark contrast to the fully Bourbon matured Hazelburn 10 year old. Matured in 100% Oloroso Sherry casks, this 12 year old release is a complex, full-bodied dram.

Tasting notes: 

Appearance: Burnished gold, forms a thin line which beads before falling as very slow, thin, oily legs.

Nose: Salty sea breeze is followed by dried fruit and dry, nutty oak.

Palate: Soft entrance, full of dried fruit, in particular raisins, dates and prunes. Hazelnut purée, hair clippings, vanilla pods, toasted oak and baking spices follow. A few drops of water bring out a lot more nutty oak and spice.

Finish: Slightly astringent, nutty oak.

Summary: This is a whisky which, whilst not quite making it into sherry bomb territory, delivers sufficient sherry influence to suggest it could be a reasonable option for Christmas. There are enough of those typical sherry notes to provide a degree of complexity, and it’s well balanced despite a little too much woodiness coming through for me. This is a dram which really doesn’t benefit from the addition of water as it brings out far too much of the oak at the expense of everything else. 

It’s a decent enough whisky without being particularly exciting. It’s good but not great, and with a price of around £70 there are more interesting options out there.

Transparency: This sample was part of a 5 dram sample set, purchased from The Spirits Embassy. No goods or other incentives were exchanged, offered or requested for this independent review.