pop & pour

I had to work late tonight and just got home, so this will be a short one even for this abridged series of posts, but I wasn’t about to let Whisky Advent get derailed that quickly.  Tonight’s (well-deserved) post-work whisky is the Edradour Caledonia, a special 12 year old Highland single malt whisky aged in Oloroso Sherry casks (which are apparently obscenely popular in the whisky world) which was hand-selected by Scottish folk legend Dougie MacLean (who I admit I’ve never heard of) and named after his song Caledonia (which I admit I’ve never heard).  It was supposed to be a one-off release, but everyone liked it so much that Edradour kept it going.  I particularly like it for the fact that a 50 mL bottle of whisky gets its own mini cardboard tube.  It’s the little things.

Day 4. You should see Dougie MacLean’s picture on the back of this tube.

This one was deep bronze in colour but fairly muted on the nose, apple juice and linament and not a ton else.  The slightly higher degree of alcohol — 46%, as compared to 43% in the last three whiskies in this holiday lineup — makes itself known as soon as you take a sip and thickens the texture of the whisky, warming the flavours of golden raisins, figs, caramel and charcoal.  It’s big and pleasant and fruity, but not overly complex as far as single malts go; definitely enjoyable after a 12+ billable hour day, but not necessarily a bottle for which I’d line up to pay its $85 retail price.  Still goes down easy right now though.  8 minute review complete!  See you tomorrow!