Sculte Twentse Single Malt Whisky - Tasting Notes

Erve Sculte is an artisan distillery located in an area in the Netherlands called Twente. We got a sample from Jock of the Sculte Twentse Single Malt Whisky to try out. At the time it was around approx. 63% ABV, and nearly 3 years old. Almost there so to say...

Expectation is that it should be bottled in August 2014. It is now finishing for a couple of months in an older cask, after maturing first in new casks. This finishing is meant to temper the new wood flavours a bit.

All ingredients come locally from the area in the Netherlands called Twente. Sculte is making the barrels from 200 year old oak trees grown in the landscape in Twente. After three years of drying in the outside air, casks were made from these oak trees. The coopering takes place in Austria by a 6th generation of coopers. They made specially for Sculte the casks and charring, with a capacity of 55, 100 and 225 liters. The spirit is based on a mix of two types of barley and made in a double distillation run

Nose
Sweet, bit autumn packed leafs, but also fresh sweet daffodils, bit swinging a bit between earthy and sweet fresh floral fruity. bit liquerisch, apple, plums, fresh pine wood... almost eucalyptus wood and leaves, a combination of Fishermen's Friends and Potters with a vanilla touch. Citrus and fresh fruit, but liqeurish and vanilla are strong...

Palate
Liquerisch, coconut, vanilla, raisin, custard, banana, green apple, flowers, tulips, roses, mozzarella with basil and a nice aceto balsamico, creamy, and a bit soft mint. Lots of berries like cranberry, black berries, elder berries, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberry, raspberries...


Finish
Sweet vanilla medium length finish, with a bit dry liqeurish wood note. Bit smoky almost, like chewed tobacco.... The berries are strong, like taking a spoon full of Cranberry jam in your mouth. At the end there is a chocolate note coming through.

Score
The palate and nose are full with interesting flavours. Through it all you can feel very much that there is a lot of new wood feel in this one. I hope that will be toned down a bit by finishing this in an older cask. Looking forward to an other taste when this one is bottled.

Thanks Jock for providing us with this sample to have a taste of an other Dutch product out there. Putting it for sure on the planning to visit Erve Sculte someday, and tasting the other spirits he produces.