A lot of casks are presented as sherry casks even when they’re coming from outside of the sherry triangle. Especially the nearby D.O.’s Huelva and Montilla-Moriles are trying to surf the hype and reputation of sherry casks.
Since true sherry casks ought to be seasoned with wines that abide to the denomination Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, distillers can simply omit this protected name and instead use terms like Oloroso or Pedro Ximénez which are allowed in several other designations. Most consumers automatically link these names to sherry, even if it’s not explicitly mentioned on the label. However in recent years many bodegas have (been forced to) become more transparent about the provenance of their casks, and it was to be expected that distilleries would start selling this (initially dodgy) practice as something special.
The Balvenie is one of the first to put the focus on Montilla casks in their series called A Collection of Curious Casks. This 12 year-old fully matured in European oak butts seasoned with sweet Montilla wine. It’s unclear what type of wine this was exactly. Oban has been using Montilla casks for a long time – Fino style casks. In this case we can assume it was a young pale Pedro Ximénez wine, much like the classic black PX but with little or no oxidative influence.
I found it strange that in its communications Balvenie was constantly mixing up single cask and European oak butts (plural), even within the same sentence. Then I found out different single casks are being released to separate markets. Later this year there will be a 20 Years Peated Sherry Cask edition and a 13 Years Refill Port Cask in the same series, both exclusive to travel retail.
The Balvenie 12 yo 2012 ‘Montilla Wine seasoned cask’ (47,3%, OB 2025, single cask #1892)
Nose: malty notes and barley sugar, with acacia honey sweetness and subtle hints of dried apricots. Candied apples and some beer notes as well. Then freshly sawn (toasted) oak and some baking spice like nutmeg and ginger. It’s 12 years of European oak after all. Even a very light floral touch.
Mouth: a similar profile with active wood and wine sweetness. A firm hint of fresh cereals, along with some gingery heat and a subtle grassy edge. Then vanilla and a good dose of drying nutmeg. Underneath there are green apples and a bit of a yeasty note.
Finish: medium, still grassy – sweet with oak spice.
Nothing special after all. Quite easy to drink but showing more oaky notes than fortified wine influence, to be honest. They do make great wines in Montilla but this is just a lukewarm advocate for both the distillery and the wine region. Still samples available from Whiskysite.nl. At The Whisky Exchange they have full bottles of cask #18509.