In September 2024 Bimber unveiled the second release of its Shoulders of Giants series. It pays homage to thinkers, innovators and visionaries who have shaped our world.
We have more than six samples waiting to be reviewed, but today we’ll go for three pairs: two bourbon casks, two Oloroso casks and two Pedro Ximénez casks. To make these pairs, we also include Copernicus which is from the first batch.
Mind that a lot of these bottlings are exclusive to a certain country: Darwin, Winston and Victoria were only available in the UK, Ludwig in Germany and Witkiewicz in Poland.
Bimber ‘Ludwig – The Composer’ (58,7%, OB ‘Shoulders of Giants’ 2024, ex-bourbon cask #402, 242 btl.)
Nose: pretty vibrant, with vanilla and rich stewed fruits. Apricots, pears on syrup and melons, as well as hints of pineapple cubes. Then butter pastry (maybe waffles) with minty notes and white pepper. Coconut cream and caramel.
Mouth: sweet and spicy. Plenty of vanilla again, with barley sugar, red apples and sweet citrus. Mid-palate the oak spices take over: white pepper becomes chilli, along with some alcohol burn. Fresh oak shavings too, with a subtle sour edge and nutmeg. Very oak-driven, up to the point where it echoes American bourbon whiskey.
Finish: medium length, with sharp spice and generous wood. Hints of citrus rind and a subtle astringency;
Active bourbon wood, bringing plenty of vanilla and even more wood spice to the table. The trademark Bimber fruits are also present. Good but the spice is not very subtle. I always saw Beethoven as a sherry character, but this has a nice turbulence that fits him.
Bimber ‘Darwin – The Naturalist’ (58,3%, OB ‘Shoulders of Giants’ 2024, ex-bourbon cask #376, 259 btl.)
Nose: similar sweetness. Pastry notes, a hint of maple syrup and loads of vanilla. Then honey, apricots and mango. Hints of mocha cream and marzipan, as well as candied ginger, white pepper and cinnamon.
Mouth: fairly thick, almost liqueur-like at times, with a lot of oak spice again, but better integrated than Ludwig. Butter pastry, red apples and sweet orange candy. Similar minty bourbon notes and caramelized nuts.
Finish: medium length, with more mint and aniseed. Citrus and banana candy in the background.
Quite modern again, with a lot of active wood and a bit of a hybrid profile. A big profile and slightly more balanced than Ludwig. Score: 86/100
Bimber ‘Winston – The Statesman’ (58,5%, OB ‘Shoulders of Giants’ 2024, Spanish Oloroso sherry cask #473, 302 btl.)
Nose: very dark aromas – prunes, blackberry jam and dates, with dark chocolate and hints of sherry brandy. Chocolate coated raisins, hazelnut paste, black pepper and marzipan. Then a bit cherry liqueur too. Reminds me of some Glendronach single casks.
Mouth: plenty of dark forest fruits mixed with dark cocoa again. Getting quite leafy, with tobacco and hints of roasted nuts. A whiff of cask smoke even. Then some leathery dryness, coffee beans and a little aniseed.
Finish: quite long and dark, with dark jammy fruits. Black pepper and light tannins emerge as well, but they are not taking over.
Heavily sherried, with a lot of chocolate. Overall it shows a good balance of savoury notes and sweetness. A nice example of how good seasoned casks can become. Score: 87/100
Bimber ‘Witkiewicz – The Artist’ (58,7%, OB ‘Shoulders of Giants’ 2024, Spanish Oloroso sherry cask #460, 285 btl.)
Nose: despite being peated, this has a slightly lighter profile, with more cigar boxes and wood polish but less of that chocolaty weight. Blackcurrants and raisins, with hints of burnt vanilla pastry underneath. Fig jam, toast, a little library dust and caramel.
Mouth: nice tobacco notes, more cigar boxes and dark sugar. Then more raisins, black cherries and prunes. Now some chocolate too, along with cinnamon and dry smoke. This one reminds me of Highland Park. Dried fruits and hints of marmalade come out towards the end.
Finish: quite long. Tobacco and mild smoke, with black pepper and a berry sweetness.
Peated Bimber is quite rare, but it combines nicely with the sherry cask. Overall this stands out in this session – a nice highlight already. Score: 88/100
Bimber ‘Copernicus – The Polymath’ (56,8%, OB ‘Shoulders of Giants’ 2023, Pedro Ximénez cask #241, 300 btl.)
Nose: more elegant than expected. Dried fruits of course – prunes, raisins, cherry liqueur and dates, but also a fragrant, almost floral edge. Leathery notes perhaps. Then hints of gingerbread, bramble and orange peels. Very good.
Mouth: typical PX sweetness. Blackcurrant jam, prunes, toffee and mocha candy. On the other hand there’s also vanilla sweetness, maple syrup and a sweet oakiness. Then ginger comes out, along with leather and milk chocolate.
Finish: long, perhaps a tad too drying. Moving towards coffee, stewed peaches and dark cocoa, with a leathery note in the background.
This mixes PX notes with the heavyweight American oak markers. Remember this is ‘merely’ a PX finish so there’s always some bourbon wood involved as well. Score: 87/100
Bimber ‘Victoria – The Monarch’ (57,9%, OB ‘Shoulders of Giants’ 2024, Pedro Ximénez cask #450, 298 btl.)
Nose: well behaved again. Hints of Kahlua, raisins, with black cherries and muscovado sugar. Some of the blackberry jam and sherry brandy of Winston as well. Then poached pear and whiffs of polished exotic wood.
Mouth: toffee with baked apple and milk chocolate. Then hazelnuts and latte notes, raisins and black pepper. It becomes fruitier after a while, but it quickly moves back to brown sugar and cinnamon pastry.
Finish: quite long, with more cinnamon and latte, but thinner than Copernicus.
Good whisky again, but this seems to have a lower complexity than the others. So there, no crescendo but good scores accross the board. Score: 86/100