Ferg & Harris
Secret Speyside 12
Enjoying a PX finished dram on a sunny afternoon
This weekend I was enjoying myself at a little vacation house on the other side of the country. After spending the day at a local amusement park with my toddler, I was having some well deserved rest with a book in the sun. Craving something.
Maybe a dram?
Yes, that is right, I brought whisky. To be honest, they were some samples I had for tasting and I thought it was a great idea to bring those along.
I had packed a sherried whisky, and a peated one. I chose the sherried whisky: A dram of the Ferg & Harris Secret Speyside 12 year old. Coming from Dram1's explorer pack. (From the Dingle, remember?)
This is a 12 year old speyside whisky, aged on a first fill bourbon barrel, with a finish of 6 months on a Pedro Ximénez Sherry Hogshead. And that created a very nice dram.
Could not figure out what secret distillery it was, so that remains a secret.
This cask strength whisky was bottled at 55% Vol. Is is not chill-filtered and has his natural color. Which reminds me of old chestnut furniture. A deep amber turning almost towards a faint of red or purple.
The nose is pretty soft, but so enjoyable. Warm and intense notes of dried fruit, but at the same time something fresh, like caramel ice cream.
Immediately after the fruit and freshness, some darker notes are there: oak, tobacco and even some leather.
The taste was full and gave me just the thing I was looking for, some relaxing. It was a sip that made you feel home. But then, just as with the nose, the darker flavours arived. Again oak, but a bit bitter, definitely some tannines in there. The weak hint of tobacco on the nose was much stronger in the taste.
Still all being dominated by dried fruits, and a hint of dusty vanilla.
The finish was too short for my liking. With that nose and full palate, I was expecting a dram i could have chewed on for a while. But it was short.
The finish also had less layers in taste then I expected. It was warm and nice, some fudge and dried figs, but too short.
Drinking it, with the day cooling down around me, it was just the dram I needed. A very nice summer exploration!
