Glen Wyvis distillery (not the legendary Ben Wyvis distillery) has been around since 2015. It was the first distillery entirely owned by the surrounding community, with over 3000 smaller and bigger investors, as well as a series of volunteers.
This is the first time we’re trying their spirit. It comes from a first-fill Oloroso cask, exclusively bottled for the German market through Kirsch Import.
Glen Wyvis 5 yo 2018 (61,5%, OB for Kirsch Import 2024, first-fill Oloroso sherry butt #243, 671 btl.)
Nose: quite intense, with active wood coming out. Pencil shavings and cigar boxes. Then cherries, plums and sour berries, hints of leather, clove and aniseed. Peppery touches, red apples and oranges, along with a mild caramelly note underneath.
Mouth: figs, raisins and oranges again, but now the (cedar) wood is really taking over. That means lots of drying cinnamon, ginger and plenty of tannins. Hints of bitter almond, clove oil and herbal tea. Hints of soy sauce, roasted coffee beans and drying leather too. Later hazelnuts come out.
Finish: quite long, still lots of toasted oak and espresso, as well as citrus zest.
Obviously the first attempt at a distillery shouldn’t be a first-fill sherry cask, but there. The wood is simply too loud here, becoming a little plankish and covering up what was probably not a bad sherry cask at all.