Whisky : English Whisky Co. 7 Year SMWS 137.7 “How to kill your dragon”

Country/Region : England

ABV : 65.6%

Cask : 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel

Age : 7 Years (Distilled 16 Feb. 2012)

Nose : Clean and smokey— smoke off a new grill with a hint of kerosene and lighter fluid. Sweet apple slices and swimming pool chlorine come through along with sulfur, hard boiled egg, and pipe tobacco.  Stale yurt, dried herbs, and earthy dried dung patties hang in the back.

Palate : Medium bodied with a light syrupy mouthfeel.  Toasted pastries with spicy nut paste and sweet black sugar syrup.  Jumps from cashews tossed in sweet chili sauce, fruity almond extract, dehydrated mushrooms, and to dry smoked chilis.  Sulfurous funk pops up in the mid palate before pears, citrus, milk chocolate, and light roasted coffee notes come through.

Finish :  Lingering lemon citrus and earthy sweet herbs.

Score : 6

Mental Image : Mobile Yurt Patisserie.

Something Similar : St. George Single Malt; Batch 16 (similar light roasted coffee, chocolate, more tea)

Something Similar : Ledaig 21Year Manzanilla Finish (similar nuttiness, chili, leather, more BBQ)

Something Worse : Laphroaig Cairdeas 2018 Fino (similar nuttiness & pastry, more char)

Notes :  This was really tasty, even if there was no way for it to possibly live up to the name.  For me the title conjured images of CGI fire breathing dragons and vikings, perhaps outtakes from the Dreamworks classic.  I expected a thick heady smoke and fiery spice.  This was far more mellow— I do not believe any dragons were harmed in the making, tasting, or naming of this bottle.

While it did not live up to the name and was not nearly as popular as another English Whisky Co. release we shared at a local tasting (SMWS 137.4), this was a delicious bottle.  I enjoyed the sweet earthy notes that came through on the palate as well as the transition from nutty sweetness to roasty chocolate and coffee.  The mouthfeel was a tad too much the light side, though it did have some nice viscosity.  Overall this was a pleasant package and even though it was not the most complex dram, it did have beautiful clean crisp flavors which popped pleasantly on the palate.  Between this cask and the other we tasted, I am definitely looking forward to some more chances to try out the English Whisky Co.