Whisky : Westland 5 Year Ex-Marsala Cask 6293

Country/Region : United States

ABV : 52.1%

Cask : Virgin Oak (51 mo.) Ex-Marsala (14 mo.)

Age : 5 Years (Distilled Dec. 2014, Bottled May 2020)

Nose : Cranberry, blackberry, and fruit loaf.  Hint of limon and lime granita with cola and old incense scented oak.  Bakery display full of raspberry danishes, cinnamon pastries, and chocolate cakes.

Palate : Medium bodied and ever so slightly syrupy or oily.  Opened with the fruit and spice of ginger, kola nuts, and raspberry or cherry filled pastries.  Varnished wood & spicy incense arrived along with faint shisha tobacco and dusty goods in a new age art store/book store (crystals, salt lamps, incense soaked rugs).  Chocolate-woody dryness on the back end.

Finish : Lingering dried fruit, pastries, and old wood.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Stepping into the Bakery

Notes :  This brought back memories of a research trip spent in France and the feeling of stepping into a warm bakery from the cold rain.  Squeezing in through a crack in the door I recall being assaulted by the sweet smell of pastries, fruits, and chocolate as warmth returned to my body.  The baker barely had the patience for my poor French, but he took my money just the same, and by the end of the months long trip he seemed to at least tolerate me.  For friendship I turned to the kabob man down the street.

I shifted over the course of a few different drams of this from finding it just okay to deciding it was, in fact, really good.  While initially this was a bit sweet for my taste, after a few evenings with it I noticed that the wood and spice balanced against the fruity inclinations of the cask and the sweetness seemed to come down a few rungs.  There was a lovely chocolately dryness developed on the back end that kept me pouring just a little bit more each time.