Review #227: Deanston 12

Highland - 12 - NCF - NCA  - $50 at Binny's - 46.3%

Deanston is highland distillery that has been a little off my radar.  I had a Deanston PX and a Deanston Bordeaux, both were great, so I thought it would be good to try their baseline spirit.  They don't chill-filter or color their product and it is bottled at 46% so that is a good start for an entry level bottle.  Their website doesn't provide much production notes but with its color it should have at least a little sherry.  

Color - Deep Copper

Nose - Apricots, golden raisins, vanilla extract, malt, sage 

Palate - Apricots quickly fade to porridge, malt, lemons, vanilla

Finish - Medium -  Malt, white fruit, bitter lemon, honey, baking spice - a touch hot

Overall - 6 - The nose on this one is a little different for me.  It felt like there was two layers, one of sherried fruit and one of dense malt and that they didn't mix.  This isn't a bad thing per se.  Once it hits the palate, it becomes completely malt driven.  It is interesting that is has enough cask influence for color and the nose but so faint on the palate or finish.  This is a decent introductory malt, enjoyable, pleasant and cheap.  I would compare this to Arran 10 and would buy this over Arran at the same price. 

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Rating system is price influenced as it is based on my shopping decisions when buying a bottle.

10 Best in Show

9 Great Dram for Special Occasions

8 Worthy of consistent spot in my collection

7 Worth picking up a bottle if in the mood

6 I would buy a bottle if it went on sale
5.5 I really enjoyed but it will never be priced at where I would buy a bottle

5 I would drink it happily if offered

4 I would drink it if offered on the rocks

3 Maybe some soda will make this potable

2 I'll Pass

1 Toilet cleaner

Inclusive Ratings

Overall 6.1

Standard Deviation 0.92

Skew 0.66

Kurtosis -0.16