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Auction: SFW40 - Spink x Cask 88 E-Auction - e-Auction
Lot: 4

DALRYMPLE-2015-#21


Distillery: Ailsa Bay
Region: Lowlands
Age: 7 years
Distillation Date: 28th August 2015
Cask type: Ex-Bourbon Barrel
Peated?: No
Re-gauge ABV: 60.7%
Re-gauged Litres of Alcohol (RLA): 89.6 litres
New Bulk Litres: 147.6 litres
Re-gauge Date: 27th July 2022
Bottles: 210
Cask Number: 21

Sweet Shop Delights From a Distillery with Exacting Specifications

Cask Description

The Spirit
Ailsa Bay is a lowland distillery, set up by William Grant and Sons to be experimental, informed by science, and use an exacting approach to producing single malt whisky. While Ailsa Bay's spirit is usually peated, the Dalrymple variety uses no peat.

You'd be forgiven for thinking you'd wandered into Balvenie distillery if you managed to gain access to Ailsa Bay (they are not a visitor-focused distillery) - the stills here are shaped like those at Balvenie to produce a spirit that is very like the beloved Speysider. This 2015 spirit was sweet from the outset, with many fruity and confection-like aromas.

The Wood
Seven years in an ex-bourbon barrel has enhanced the natural sweetness of the Dalrymple spirit. Vanillin levels are quite high, and the whisky feels soft and velvety on the palate, implying a certain oiliness that bodes well for a longer maturation. If you wish to take this excellent ex-bourbon style whisky down a more 'Balvenie' route, it would likely take re-racking into a sherry cask very well, enjoying some spice to go with its sweetness.

The Master
Brian Kinsman is a chemist by training, inclined towards a scientific view of whisky - and a desire to understand it at a fundamental level. His 25 year career with William Grant & Sons began with his exceptional nose impressing his employers. In his current position of Master Blender for the company, he has developed an innovative and precise distilling regime at Ailsa Bay distillery, finding the perfect balance of sweetness and smokiness, down to the part per million of the whisky's chemical components. Though there is no peated malt used in the creation of this Dalrymple, the other elements of this whisky have been precisely engineered according to Mr. Kinsman's exacting specifications.

"Every cask is different, which is why blending is more of an art than a science and built up through a lifetime of experience. Our whiskies will long outlive me." - Brain Kinsman

The History
Ailsa Bay distillery is built alongside William Grant & Sons grain whisky distillery Girvan, on the previous site of Ladyburn distillery. It is the third most southerly whisky distillery in Scotland and is one of the key players in the resurgence of Lowland single malt.
It was built relatively recently, in 2007, at a time where the popularity of Balvenie and Glenfiddich was such that these distilleries couldn't keep up with demand. Ailsa bay's 8 stills are the same shape as those at Balvenie to enable this new distillery to be scientific in its approach and be able to produce whisky that's not just reminiscent of Balvenie, but also to experiment with the formula, producing more peaty, fruity, malty or nutty variants.



Tasting Notes

Nose:
This is sweet in true Ailsa Bay distillery style - with great intentionality in the levels of vanilla, citrus, and soft sweets like marshmallows, foam bananas and strawberry bubblegum. There's a drying note of sage and sea air just at the edge of perception.

Palate:
A more malty, pastry note joins the fruitiness of the nose, introducing apple strudel, italian meringue and milk chocolate eclairs oozing fresh cream. The citrussyness from the nose now manifests as the sourness of baking apples. The finish is surprisingly malty and fudgy, but quite short.

Estimate