Wolfburn Small Batch Release No. 375

Nose: Fruity and floral, though darker and mellower compared to the rest of the Wolfburn core range. The pear is now peach, the apricot nectar is dried apricot, the pineapple has been simmered in honey. The sherry is more noticeable with definite raisin notes and nutty hints. There's an inscrutable mellow maturity that is surprising given the spirit's age, and a background aroma of vanilla. Palate: A sweet combination of sultanas, honey, and cream that billows onto the palate upon arrival. Rich, rounded, silky, and supple with a good texture - oily and full with caramel, maple syrup, and toffee tones balanced by ginger and allspice. Almonds and cashews, a mild oak note with some cappuccino and dark chocolate in the background. Finish: Medium/long. Excellent. The palate seamlessly dissipates into a lingering honeyed dark fruit and cereal aftertaste, with a slightly savory overtone. This is a very good whisky for its age. Honestly - if you poured me a dram of this and asked me to guess the age I'd say it was 8-10 years old, but astonishingly it is just four and a half years old. 75% of the content was matured in half-sized (100 litre) first-fill bourbon casks, and 25% was matured in second-fill oloroso hogsheads. What Wolfburn has accomplished here is remarkable. They have distilled a balanced, fruity, elegant new-make that requires only modest maturation (although in very good casks, I'm sure) to produce whisky with character and charm in less than 5 years. It outclasses many drams of twice that age or more - compare this to recent 12 year old Fine Oak Macallan and the difference is frankly embarrassing (for the Macallan). They have pulled off this small batch trick three times in a row now. The No.128 and No.270 expressions were both great drams, but with this No.375 they have excelled themselves. If you have not tasted something by this young distillery (for heavens sake - their first spirit run was only 6 years ago!) then you are missing a great experience. Wolfburn is the far north coast Kilchoman, and they are on track to become the far north coast Springbank. This expression was overwhelmingly voted the best of the tasting session, and it sold out in minutes on the night. If you can find a bottle - buy it. “Very Good": 87/100 (4.25 stars)

To celebrate World Whisky Day, instead of opting for a guaranteed favorite, I decided to revisit two distilleries that hadn't impressed me before: Wolfburn and Kilchoman. I had samples from both previously but they didn't quite connect with me. So, here we go. This Wolfburn is a small batch, recently released along with their other very young bottlings. The nose is initially very reserved, but with some patient, deeper nosing, it reveals genuinely pleasant aromas. There's a mild yet flavorful fruitiness. I detect jelly bananas (a specific German candy), red currant, crisp vanilla cookies, and honeyed apples. I already favor it much more than I recall from the Wolfburn flagship Northland I had some months back. The palate is quite intense and genuinely nice. Yes, it has a mouth-coating alcoholic strength, like a ginger burn from its youth, but it doesn't feel out of place. The actual flavors include sweet peaches, ginger, nutmeg, crackers, wine gummy bears, and a substantial amount of vanilla and freshly ground whole grains. The finish is surprisingly good. It's quite long and intense, with some intriguing flavor shifts that are hard to pinpoint but remind me of an immature Springbank. The nose improves as you drink, and the entire dram coalesces into a very enjoyable experience. I'm very pleasantly surprised, which is what I was hoping for. I'll be watching this intriguing distillery for future releases that have had a few more years to mature. Recommended; I think I'll get a bottle of this to remind myself that Wolfburn likely holds significant potential in the coming years. A very fine dram for today's occasion.

I sampled most of Wolfburn's offerings at an event. Among Aurora, 375, Northland, Morven, Langskip, The Nectar, and 318, I favored the 375 and 318. However, at this price point, I believe there are superior alternatives available. The 375 shared similarities with Aurora, featuring dark chocolate, cherry, and a peppery warmth, but with less of an underlying medicinal character. The nose offered more orange or exotic fruit notes. It was lighter than Aurora. Its impact on the palate was slightly less pronounced, but overall, the balance of flavors was more appealing to me.

Light and fruity. Young with sour elements.

Very mild