FACTS
The James Sedgwick distillery (JSD) is situated in Wellington, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is not only the sole commercial whisky distillery in South Africa, but the whole of Africa. Although the history of the distillery dates back to 1886, it was initially a brandy distillery and the road to the JSD producing whisky has a long history. In the late 19th century, the Anglo Boer War and other difficulties meant that a number of distilling operations were opened and closed and it wasn't until the 1960's that the R & B distillery was built, in Stellenbosch. In 1972, the Stellenbosch Farmers Winery (SFW) purchased the distillery and the Three Ships brand was launched in 1977 with the first Three Ships 'whisky' being a blend of young South African grain spirit, distilled at the R & B distillery, and Scotch malt whisky.
As production increased beyond the capacity of the R & B distillery, it closed down in 1990 and the entire operation was moved to the JSD. In 1991, Andy Watts became the distillery's sixth manager and started implementing improvements to all processes, equipment and wood policies. This resulted in an improvement in the quality of the spirit and in the early 1990's, he created his own peated blend, the Three Ships 5 year old Premium Select and over time, started replacing the malt component with South African malt whisky. In 2000, Distell, the current owners of the distillery, was formed through a merger between the SFW and Distillers Corporation, who were more focused on brandy at that time. In 2003, the company's first 10 year old single malt whisky was released, followed by the Bourbon Cask Finish and Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky a few years later. After the merger, many improvements were made and in 2009, new equipment was installed throughout the distillery to further improve the whisky.
The distillery has since launched another range of 10 year old single malts (2010-2012) with the latest releases (2015 & 2016) all having vintage statements. In 2015, the Master's Collection was developed with the aim of releasing a special, limited edition whisky every year, each being matured in a new/different cask type or reflecting something different from the norm. The first Master's Collection bottling was the 10 year old PX Cask Finish followed by the 15 year old Pinotgae Cask Finish in 2016 and the 8 year old Oloroso Cask Finish in 2018. The distillery has many new and exciting things happening and have also released a 15 year old Bain's single grain whisky as well as a number of single cask whiskies released through independent bottlers. One of these is the whisky being reviewed today, bottled by the Private Barrel Co.
Private Barrel Co. is the first independent bottler of single cask whiskies in South Africa and is bottled exclusively for Checkers. Their vision is 'to offer whisky lovers at home (South Africa) something new and entirely unique' including whisky from distilleries not normally available in South Africa, distilleries that don't usually bottle single casks and unknown expressions from known distilleries, that offer something different, accessible and well priced. Their first bottling was a Mortlach 14 year old and they have since bottled many more whiskies from known and secret distilleries. The 6 year old James Sedgwick was their first foray into South African whisky and hopefully not their last.
Whisky/ Year: James Sedgwick 6 year old (2018) Single Cask (Private Barrel Co.)
Whisky Type: Single Malt
Distillery/Owner: The James Sedgwick Distillery (Distell Group Limited)
Country/Region: South Africa (Wellington)
Cask Type: American Oak / Fino Sherry
Age: 6 Years Old
ABV: 54.6%
Chill Filtration: No
Natural Colour: Yes
Price: R750 / $53 / £40 (Discontinued)
TASTING NOTES
Colour:
Dark Mahogany / Rosewood
Nose:
An absolute nosing delight. It has a dusty/powdery quality with citrus, vanilla pods, and sweet tobacco upfront. It moves on to strongly scented gummy sweets, strawberry sherbert and plum. It's very fragrant and floral with rose petals and turkish delight with a hint of acetone
Palate:
It's immensely rich and deep. Starts off juicy and mouth-watering with an explosion of vinous and dark fruit notes and then becomes a little tannic. Loads of different berries as well as turkish delight. The sweetness develops into a refreshing herbal/menthol note towards the end
Finish:
The finish is long and mouth-drying but very satisfying with berries and deep floral notes carrying through
P.S.
This is a masterpiece by Andy Watts. It may only be 6 years old but has the depth and complexity of a much older whisky and is truly magnificent, even without the addition of water. There's a lot of excitement around the JSD and its new releases as each one is better than the next. The 6 year old Fino Cask is but one of the fantastic 2018 releases along with the 8 year old Oloroso and the 6 year old PX Sherry Cask, bottled for That Boutique-y Whisky Company. I'm really excited and waiting patiently to see what we'll be able to taste with the 2019 Master's Collection release as well as the 2007 vintage 10 year old and hopefully another single cask. Now, to get my hands on a bottle of Bain's 15 year old...
SCORE: 8/10
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