The Pot Still in Glasgow

After a nice dinner at Ardnamurchan Restaurant, The Whisky Dame and I hopped down Hope Street to The Pot Still, a great whisky and ale pub of world renown. The Dame asked for her BenRiach 22 Years peated (and had two of them as it is so hard to find). I went with a recent festival release by Glenfiddich, a wine cask finished dram at cask strength. The richness of the wine merged with, but didn’t overwhelm, the malt and vanilla bean custard from the initial bourbon cask maturation.

I nosed the Dame’s BenRiach. Rich smoky highland peat with just a bit of sweetness coming through.

My nightcap was an Edradour SFTC 10 Years Sauternes Cask finish. Deep gold in color with a profoundly sweet nose reminiscent of freshly burned sugar on a very rich, thick creme brûlée. I added a little bit of water to bring down the heat and ethanol vapors on this 61.1 % ABV dram. There is just the slightest bit of minerality from the wine cask sitting under all the sweet aromas. A little bit of water certainly didn’t take away from the sweetness on the nose and perhaps even added a little bit to the creaminess on the nose.

The palate is rich with vanilla bean spice, vanilla custard and light honey. The sweet French dessert wine really merges nicely with the original bourbon cask influence to make for a wonderful dessert whisky. It is freshly made creme brûlée in a glass.

The funniest part of the evening was discussing with a bartender a particular bottle that I am holding for a special occasion in the future, my daughter’s wedding, whenever it may be. He asked, “Is she single?”
Me: “Aye.” Bartender: “I’m available.”