Independent bottler Dramfool hasn’t been mentioned here often, but you may remember them from their Rhythm & Booze bottling. They also have this series of Red Bag releases, an anagram for a famous Islay distillery. I didn’t like the old Dramfool logo and brand image, but this has recently been upgraded to a clean logo and a specific bottle shape. Much better.
We’re trying the fourth release in this series, quite appropriately also a 4 year old whisky.
Red Bag 2020 – Islay Single Malt 4 yo (61,2%, Dramfool ‘Middle Cut’ 2025, red wine barrique #54, 282 btl.)
Nose: a very forthcoming nose, with the kind of intensity you expect from Ardbeg. Nice warming smoke, hints of exhaust fumes, extinguished pipe and mercurochrome. Also a light apple / peach / red berry sweetness and a hint of mint leaves. Then some wet flour, kelp and ink. Other than the moderate sweetness, there’s hardly any wine in sight, which is good in my opinion.
Mouth: excellent, if a little hot perhaps. Thick, tarry smoke with pear sweetness. Sweetened lemon juice, mezcal, more exhaust fumes, black pepper and a good dose of seawater. Subtle hints of blackberries. A youngish hint of fragrant herbs as well, almost like a smoky infused gin. Then there’s a slightly tannic / leathery edge which could be caused by the French oak, but there’s still no red wine as such. A drop of water makes it more accessible, and brings out nice citrusy notes.
Finish: quite long and very ashy, perhaps a little rough but still showing these gin botanicals and staying clear of all things wine. More dark fruits in the very end.
If only all red wine barrique could be this cooperative. And all 4 year-olds this good. Not cheap, but certainly good quality. Bottles are still out there, I guess, or you can get a sample from Whiskysite.nl