As we saw in the post on the 8 year old, Teerenpeli did very well with the 60-40 combination of bourbon and sherry sherry casks. The expression was all you’d expect from a Finnish whisky, with a character all to its own, conjuring up forests, rain and wet earth.
Photo Credit: whiskyadvocate.com/
You’d obviously expect that the Distiller’s Choice, an expression wholly matured in sherry casks, to be that much better. You might also think you’d be facing a true sherry bomb. Alas, you’d be wrong on both counts. My fellow blogger Thomas Øhrbom at Whisky Saga notes that, while officially NAS, this expression is 6-7 years old, as he was told in a visit to the distillery. I thought that while being definitely well made whisky, it didn’t have the depth of character the 8 year old had. I’m not sure if it’s the 2nd fill casks or the age. I wonder if there’s a 100% bourbon cask matured expression out there. Judging from the 8 year old, such an expression has the potential to absolutely shine.
Photo Credit: clydesdale.se
Teerenpeli Distiller’s Choice Kaski (43% ABV)
Appearance: Deep bronze, thick and quick legs.
Nose: A layer of herbal and honey notes with some light lactic notes overlayed with a light layer of sherry with a rather wine like nose which gets sweeter with time.
Palate: Zesty compote made from plums, nectarines and citrus, pine sap, brown sugar, pepper and cinnamon. The full mouth feel creates some dryness on the inside of the cheeks.
Linger: Some sweetness, hints of spice and not much dryness left behind in this rather short Finnish finish.
I do apologize for the corny pun, I just couldn’t resist that one 😉
Conclusion
I had very high expectations coming to this expression from the 8 year old, which were unanswered by the whisky. Don’t get me wrong, it’s well made and very drinkable. But on the one hand it lost that incredible feel of Finland the 8 year old had, and on the other hand it didn’t deliver a true sherry bomb punch. Of the two Teerenpeli expressions I had, the 8 year old is clearly the winner.
I will say that I eagerly await to taste other expressions coming out of Lahti, and wish to thank my friend Henrik for these samples.