12 years of whisky: a dime a dozen?

(Does affordable still bring good quality?)

Waving goodbye to 2022, I had a whole range of ideas for themes and reviews in mind. I didn’t feel much like setting up a list of ‘whiskies of the year’ though. Mainly because I don’t spend too much effort (or money) into keeping track of ‘must buy’ contemporary releases. As a consequence, I’m not exactly in a good position to share my thoughts on the best (or worst) whiskies of the year, as I likely have missed out on about 90% of them to begin with. ‘Proudly missing out on Ardbeg’s Committee Releases since 2016’, or something down those lines in any case. Pretty much I buy what I feel will be interesting, quality bottles. Picking up a bottle is therefore based on what tickles my interest, combined with what budget and availability allow, and when that purchase might ‘fit’ into a series for this blog, all the better for it.

But I digress. I was waving goodbye to 2022, and was thinking on doing something with the whole ’12 days of Christmas’ theme in one way or another, but the what and how didn’t exactly ‘click’. Then recently, when Diageo announced their special releases for 2022, what struck me about these whiskies (apart from being quite ‘loud’ in terms of presentation), were the frankly eyewatering prices. Particularly the £170 or there about they expect you to cough up for a 12 year old, cask strength Clynelish?! That’s taking the piss and then some. But then it struck me. Instead of doing 12 days of Christmas, why not settle for 12 years of whisky? Affordable 12 year old whisky at that. You know, bottles people can and will actually buy, open and enjoy rather than buying them for investment purposes? Crazy, right?!

This got me thinking some more. Affordable and available 12 year old whiskies will likely have been covered a million times before. Jim, for instance, has done a whole series on the theme of ‘a baker’s dozen’, so I needed to give it ‘an angle’ as well, so to speak, if I were to be chiming in, trying to add some value when talking about whiskies that have been covered many times before and which you probably have tried, owned and/or tasted before as well. So what I decided to do, was to take 2 archetypes of 12 year old whiskies – one matured in ex bourbon casks and the other a sherry cask matured single malt, and put them in a line-up with 2 less usual suspects: what I hope might be a surprising 12 yo blend and what I feel is a very overlooked 12 yo single malt, and see what’s what. Now obviously to give each of these a fair chance of standing their ground, they’d all have to be similarly priced and not be a million miles apart in terms of bottling strength. Luckily, when it comes to 12 yo whiskies bottled between 40% and 46% ABV, sitting in the €40-€45 range, there’s choices a plenty…

Stating the case for the bourbon cask matured single malt, I give you

Deanston 12 year old (46.3% ABV, 2021 release, natural colour, UCF, app. €44)

Ask anyone who’s even half into whisky to name 5 distilleries that are ticking the boxes of what we like to see, smell and taste in a whisky, and I fancy my chances of Deanston being on that list. Offering a naturally presented, limited (and therefore uncluttered) decent core range, at an interesting bottling strength (ignoring the supermarket ‘Kentucky Cask’ here for a second) and at affordable prices, alongside plenty of more ‘adventurous’ limited releases with all sorts of whiskies of different age and different cask maturations. If anything, I feel they could even tone down a bit with these limited releases to make room for another core range expression, something sitting between the 12 yo and the 18 yo, but that’s just me, of course. They’ve given us a taste of a 14 and 15 yo organic release a few years ago, and I for one wouldn’t mind seeing Deanston installing a 15 yo core range to bridge the gap between the 12 and the 18 yo.

Having said that, I do feel as if the 12 yo has taken its time to be where it is today. More than that, the previous incarnation up until 2015 (remember those brown labels with the image of the distillery?) never really won me over and I actually preferred the entry level virgin oak over them, as the balance seemed to be a bit off and it was perhaps still a bit rough around the edges. But that’s all in the past, as it’s fair to say Deanston has grown from strength to strength over the years, and gained the respect and appreciation from many whisky enthusiasts, mostly by word of mouth at that. Which only proves that if you get your priorities straight and put your focus and dedication into creating a quality single malt whisky and release it at affordable prices, we, the community, will pick up on that and pretty much do your marketing and advertising for you. So, Deanston 12 yo: where are you today?

Nose

When I put my nose in the glass, the first thing I pick up is a lovely honey note. Fruity (citrus) notes and vanilla, some clove and something waxy as well. Given time, more sweet spices emerge, reminding me of cola cubes. You could add a bit of water, although in my opinion it doesn’t really need it and that brought me a hint of pepper. All in all this is a classic bourbon cask matured whisky on the nose, but very elegant and utterly flawless.

Palate

Again a wonderful, lovely combo of spices (vanilla, clove and again the cola cubes) intertwined with honey and sweet notes. The citrus notes are still there but they have to make do with a place more in the back as notes of mostly wood mixed in with something waxy- oily are now more prominent. Initially the mouthfeel was fresh and crisp before turning drier. The added water again made things a bit more hot and peppery, although that levelled out again after a while, adding a bit of density to the mouthfeel.

Finish

Quite short actually. That warming peppery note continues and this is where I feel it doesn’t live up to the nose and palate.

Final thoughts

Deanston 12 has grown to become a very well balanced whisky. In my book this appeals to people who are well on their journey, but it could just as easily win over people who have only started dipping their toe into the ever expanding whisky pool. Affordable and accessible, and above all inviting. It’s not complex, but it’s by no means simple either. A good example of cask policy done exactly right: a pleasant marriage where the wood makes a solid contribution to the flavour and mouthfeel while leaving plenty of room for the intrinsic characteristics and flavours of the new make. A no nonsense, quality expression, pretty much setting the bar for what a bourbon cask matured single malt should be. A staple whisky. 84/100