Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 52.9%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Vinsanto Trentino
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Valinch & Mallet Ltd.
Average price: € 90.00
Official website: www.valinchandmallet.com
Vote: 88/100
After a few months’ absence, Valinch & Mallet, aka Fabio Ermoli and Davide Romano, reappear on the blog with a truly curious and original bottling: a single cask from Linkwood, an iconic Speyside distillery capable of producing authentic jewels, from an ex-Trentino vinsanto cask. A decidedly unusual and original choice that further raises expectations (already high, as always with Valinch & Mallet).
Today’s whisky, distilled in 2008, was bottled in 2022 at 52.9% ABV, naturally without chillfiltration and in its natural colour, in 255 examples still available in Italy. I have repeatedly confessed it: extra maturation in ex-wine barrels particularly tickles my fancy. Let’s see how it went this time, not before thanking Fabio Ermoli warmly for the sample.
Tasting notes
The colour, a light amber, is very reminiscent of honey.
On the nose we are greeted by a rich salad of white-fleshed fruit, apple and pear above all, with an interesting diversions to the tropics given by pineapple in syrup. A background floral effluvium, a touch of spice (cinnamon), shortbread, vanilla and citron peel (which avoids dangerous glycaemic drifts) outline an appealing profile. We do not have time to detect a hint of malt just hinted at when a more distinctly creamy dimension looms on the horizon…
…materialising on the palate after a barely peppery opening: toffee, custard, eggnog, vanilla and more malt. Just enough time to get used to the creams that the white-fleshed fruit returns, with an addition of pineapple with Grand Marnier.
The finish, of medium persistence, is still very creamy with incursions of apple and pear in spirit this time.
Fruit and cream play catch-up in a whisky that tends to be spring-like on the nose, and for this reason fresh and inviting, and very mouth-watering on the palate, and for this reason rounded and cuddly. A high-profile dram capable of appealing to many, showing how the skilful use of ex-wine casks can make all the difference in the world.