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By: Andrew Whiteley | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 7/15/2020 | Send Email
While I drink nearly all types of sherry gladly and often, if I had to choose, Palo Cortado, in its extraordinary complexity, is my favorite style of sherry to sip and savor. Ill-defined and hard to pinpoint exactly what makes a P.C. sherry, it offers the best of what Fino, Amontillado, and Oloroso have to offer in a unique and ethereal wine. It's hard enough to find a decent selection of more common sherry styles in this world, but Palo Cortado can be especially difficult to hunt down on the shelf. The rarity of it means there are precious few casks that make their way to Scotland for whisky maturation. Fortunately for us, when they do, the results can be spectacular. Under the watchful eye of MacTaggart...James MacTaggart...this whisky expresses everything you could hope for in the combination of Arran's fruit and malt forward spirit and the world's most underappreciated wine. It's impossible to dissect whether the robust citrus notes on the nose come from the malt or the finishing. It's a breathtaking combination of candied satsuma, burnt orange peel, grapefruit freshness, and lemon zip. Mix that with a sultry nuttiness clearly provided by the cask and you've got a nose you can sniff for hours. The palate is mouth coating, but not thick. It highlights the oxidative side of the P.C. without losing the freshness of its time under flor. A very different experience compared to Oloroso aged or finished whiskies. Like many of Arran's cask strength whiskies, a little bit of water brings out a sweeter profile. It shows a wide array of candied and dried stone fruits and a toasted sweet spice. The finish goes on and on. If oxidation had a taste separate from the thing that had oxidized, I think this would be it. It's very pleasant, but also a bit unusual. Overall, this is a striking whisky with massive complexity and highly enjoyable for those looking to branch out from the usual set of sherry flavors found in Scotland.
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