The One Orange Wine Cask Finished is a new release from The Lakes distillery and join its range of The One, their blended whisky offering. It joins the Signature Blend, Port Cask Finished and Sherry Cask Finished. As with each of The One expressions, this whisky has The Lakes' single malt at its heart and is then blended with Scotch single grain and single malts from the Highlands, Islay and Speyside. The Orange Wine Cask Finish has been matured in first-fill American oak casks and finished in casks seasoned with Vino de Naranja produced in Heulvo, Spain. Vino de Naranja is produced in the Andalucia region of Spain and involves macerating white wine with orange peel.
The Lakes distillery is located near Bassenthwaite Lake in the north English county of Cumbria. It was founded by Paul Currie and a consortium of private investors. Production began in 2014 and current capacity is 240,000 litres of spirit per year. There are two copper pot whisky stills and another still for the production of gin. The distillery also has an award-winning visitor centre and has become one of the leading new attractions in the Lake District area.
The One Orange Wine Cask Finished is bottled at 46.6% ABV and is also non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It retails for £48 a bottle and there are just 2,994 bottles. It is available from selected specialist retailers and via www.lakesdistillery.com.
Our tasting notes
The colour is a deep golden yellow and the nose has a lovely aroma of vanilla and honey to begin with. Then comes robust cereals and malt, along with a suggestion of red apples. Underneath are further aromas of baking spice and honeysuckle, plus hints of citrus peel and orange oil.
On the palate this whisky has an immediate grip and viscosity. There is an initial hot and peppery quality that is reminiscent of white pepper but this soon becomes integrated with the sweeter and maltier notes from the nose and this softens things down nicely. There is plenty of vanilla and this combines with notes of honey and golden syrup. The sweetness is underpinned by the distinct cereal grainy notes as well as a good pinch of baking spice (think of cinnamon, all-spice and mace especially). The citrus characteristics come through late to add further interest and depth. This has expressive notes of Seville orange marmalade and orange oil.
The finish is of decent length and very flavoursome. The citrus element seems to become more prominent and influential, especially as the sweeter and maltier notes begin to fade. The warming spices also hold up well to increase the longevity of the finish.
What's the verdict?
There are not many whiskies that use Vino de Naranja casks that we can think of, so we were excited to sample this version of The One. From those casks you may expect plenty of citrus but this is not immediately obvious. Other notes come to the fore and it takes time for them to develop. However, it is worth the wait as the orange-like notes increase the deeper you get in to this whisky. And it is that citrus note that is your lasting impression. Well, until you take another sip of course ...
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