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, the 8 year old Oloroso Cask Finish in 2018, and the 9 year old Fino Cask Finished Blend in 2019. The distillery has many new and exciting things happening and have also released 15 and 18 year old Bain's single grain whiskies as well as a number of single cask whiskies released through independent bottlers.
In the past few years, Whisky Brother has released over 20 single cask whiskies from some of the best distilleries in the world, all selected by them. Their latest release, the Three Ships 7yo Moscato Cask Finish, is a first of its kind collaboration between South Africa's best whisky distillery and South Africa's best whisky retailer. Moscato wine is usually made from the Muscat Blanc grape varietal and is one of the oldest wine grapes in the world. It can be still, sparkling, or fortified and the grapes have high residual sugar and low acidity with the wines generally having a sweet and perfumed flavour of rose and elderflower, bursting with fruit, namely peach, apricot and orange. This is obviously a very interesting cask choice for maturing whisky, especially in light of the fact that it is peated. Let's see...
Whisky/Year: Three Ships 7 year old (2019) Single Cask, Exclusive to Whisky Brother
Whisky Type: Single Malt
Distillery/Owner: The James Sedgwick Distillery (Distell Group Limited)
Country/Region: South Africa (Wellington)
Cask Type: Refill American Oak (5 years) / Moscato Wine Cask (2 years)
Age: 7 Years Old
ABV: 55.1%
Chill Filtration: No
Natural Colour: Yes
Price: R890 / $62 / £48 (Limited to 716 bottles)
TASTING NOTES
Colour:
Deep Copper / Burnished Gold
Nose:
It's extremely savoury. Initially, there's loads of petrichor, wet soil, wet wood, and clay as well as dusty books and I'm being reminded of walking along a dirt road after the rain. After this, comes a sweetness, like white marshmallows dusted with icing sugar, assorted dried fruit, peat, and the smell of burning paper. With water, notes of acetone emerge and it becomes more grassy
Palate:
It's a big whisky and you feel the power the moment it touches your tongue. It's super umami and earthy. The first thing that hits you is a blast of heavy peat and rubber. The peat is far more pronounced than on the nose and comes in the form of a heavily smoking bonfire and burning grass. There's also rain-soaked soil, mushroom, a slight woodiness and spiciness, and dried red berries. With water, the peat becomes sweeter and the rubber note subsides a little
Finish:
The finish is long, fiery and intensely peaty with chilli, ginger and a light, fruity sweetness. As on the palate, water intensifies the sweetness and also reduces the chilli intensity
P.S.
As I understand it, the Whisky Brother team blind tasted a handful of samples which included a number of sherried whiskies and this Moscato Cask. Needless to say, they made an excellent choice and this is an absolute gem by Andy Watts. It is such a unique whisky, not only because it's matured in Moscato Casks, but also because it has a combination of flavours that I've never tasted in a whisky before. The peat and rubber combination intermingle so well with the earthiness and the petrichor note is unlike anything I've tasted on a whisky. This is right up my alley; big, bold, intense, and offering something unlike anything else available. Neither Three Ships nor Whisky Brother can put a foot wrong with their releases and let's hope that there are more of these to come in the future. Now, go and get yourself a bottle as there are probably only a handful left.
SCORE: 8.5/10
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