Bimber Single Cask Virgin Cask

Third up in my Bimber Mini Series and we move onto the Virgin Oak Single Cask. As far as I can tell there is around 1 to 1.5% ABV variance in batches, but otherwise the limited information I’ve uncovered suggests very similar liquids. What I am tasting here is bottle 30/258, from cask 91, bottled on the 30th of June 2020 at 58.1% ABV. Nose: Thick oozy toffee with a little undertone of barrel char. A creamy nose with apple and ginger, biscuity malt characteristics and a touch of bakery spice. Over time a little wood spice enters the conversation and is a welcome change of tone. The high ABV is not felt. I instantly appreciated this, the richness of the toffee is beautiful. Very simple, but wonderfully done. Palate: Big, heavy toffee and vanilla, a warm and powerful mouthfeel that is soft and creamy with equal barrel spice and a little raw spirit burn. Rich mocha chocolate adds yet more creaminess whilst balanced slightly by the bitter coffee element of mocha. Wood spice builds with a little drying quality adding pepper, cinnamon, and maybe clove. There is a generic fruity-juiciness that keeps things plump through the mid-palate but not the fresh apples and biscuity promise of the nose. Finish: Short. Not too much here, some toffee-vanilla continues from the palate and gives way to the peppery heat. I’m not sure what to think of this. There is a notable shift away from the ex Bourbon and recharred offerings. Where there were peach driven characters there is now a dominance of toffee and more nuanced spice notes. I think this Virgin oak is a better rounded liquid than the two that I have had before it, yet has it just become another generic American Oak whisky? I think it may have, and that’s probably a shame. Bimber say “The oak-forward flavors of this cask add both creaminess and spice resulting in a bold but still highly balanced whisky which ably showcases our distinctive spirit character.” But I say, bring back the peaches. (Also the prices for these are obscene. This cask is at £300, #7 is up to £800!) [Pictured here with a kyanite-fuchsite schist from Arusha, Tanzania. This rock formed from ocean floor sediments deposited in an ancient ocean basin that occupied the space where the west coast of Mozambique now rests. When the Mozambique Ocean closed from 700-550 million years ago all the sediments on the ocean floor were metamorphosed at high temperatures and pressures to produce some pretty exceptional looking rocks like this one.]⠀ Bimber running scores: ex-Bourbon (batch 2, cask strength): 2.5 re-charred American oak: 2.75 Virgin American oak single cask: 3