Sherry Bomb Sundays – Bimber Distillery, Distillery Exclusive Oloroso Cask 2020:
So the month of December is upon us, and it won’t be too long before people start discussing Christmas plans (if you haven’t already!). For many of us the festive season is synonymous with Sherry. A spirit packed full of dried fruit, baking spices, and redcurrant flavours. So we thought, why not take the opportunity to share the festive spirit through ‘Sherry Bomb Sundays’.
Over the next four weeks we will be sharing some of our favourite sherry influence whiskies We hope that you too will join in with the festive spirit, sharing your favourites in the comments. So without much further ado, our first Sherry Bomb Sunday is dedicated to the Bimber Distillery, Distillery Exclusive Oloroso Cask 2020.
Bimber Distillery
Based in West London, Bimber laid their first casks in 2016 and released their inaugural single-malt three years later. We were lucky enough to visit the distillery a few months ago, after the UK lockdown lifted. Here we purchased the 2020 Distillery Exclusive, and a bottle of their peated New Make spirit.
A tiny outfit, they are intimately involved at every stage of the process, even bottling their whisky on site! They take a lot of pride in their low and slow fermentation process. Fermenting for an entire week, before heading to distillation. This is key to their fruit forward spirit.
Following the success of their inaugural release, a cult has somewhat grown up around the Bimber releases and they often sell-out immediately. We highly recommend a trip to their factory in London; a great opportunity to see their processes up close, and of course the whisky flight helps as well!
Distillery Exclusive, Oloroso Cask 2020
Originally aged in ex-bourbon barrels, this whisky was then transferred to an Oloroso cask to finish in sherry oak. Bottled at 57.2% ABV, this expression is non-chill filtered and of natural colour. We are not sure whether this is still available at the distillery, so we guess you will have to pay them a visit to find out (we promise you won’t be disappointed!).
Cask reference: 106/5/2020
“Aromas of dried fruit, orange peel and chocolate are joined by flawlessly integrated spice and oak”
Nose: caramel chocolate, Christmas cake, dried red fruits, hazelnuts, brown sugar crumble, apples poached in red wine, oak woodiness at the end of the nose
Palate: starts with oak-y spice, caramel sauce, chocolate covered cherries, lots of dried red fruits, orange oil, cinnamon and cloves
Finish: thick Belgium chocolate, very fruit forward, long lasting sweetness with lingering spice
Final Thoughts …
Where to start with this dram?! We LOVE Bimber, and our tour earlier this year was just brilliant, with fabulously welcoming hosts. We’re silently wishing that this wasn’t a single-cask, as it’s such a flavourful whisky we’d love for it to be ever-present on our shelf.
Wonderfully sooth, fruit forward, with a real depth behind the sherry finish. Sweet caramel, gives away to tonnes of fruit, and a delicate woody spice; this dram really does have it all. Without a doubt, one of the best whiskies we have drunk all year!
The Dram Duo 
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