North Star Spirits - Longmorn 15yo, Oloroso sherry butt, 63.1%.
Distilled: 2005 Bottled: 2020
Colour: Mahogany.
Nose: Montmorency cherry juice right off the bat accompanied by old leather, pineapple chunk syrup, red berry compote and a hint of burnt rubber (or even plastic) - not at all displeasing though.
Taste: Cherry pie, conservatively diluted strawberry sirop, caramelised banana pudding-type affair. Toasted macadamia nuts at the back end. Oily mouthfeel.
Finish: Long. The heavy cherry onus tapers to redcurrants, with a leathery, pipe tobacco signature abounding.
I should point out that I’ve been a cherry addict for most of my life and so this is pretty much the apotheosis of that in whisky form (will appeal to those with a criminally sweet tooth). I’m struggling to think of a sweeter sherry cask encounter to date and the omnipresent heavy leather notes perform a perfect job of balancing out this sweetness. I really believe that this cask wasn’t far off the tipping point of being too much for some - and indeed it may be - but am delighted that Team North Star ran with it. Expect to see a lot less of these sort of casks over the coming decade I sense.
88 points.