Dartmoor Ex Bordeaux Red Wine Cask Single Malt Whisky

With soft fruit and blackcurrant on the nose, on the palate you’ll find distinct wine gum flavours, followed by hints of coconut and chocolate. This exquisite ex-Bordeaux cask whisky finishes with a sweet and floral complexity. This particular barrel is from the Bordeaux region which is world-renowned for being the best wine growing region in France. Dartmoor uses barrels which have previously held the highest-quality French red wine and fill them with their whisky straight from the still on the edge of Dartmoor, ready to mature and soak up the beautiful aromas of the cask.<br> <br> The origins of Dartmoor Whisky Distillery can be traced back to Islay in the Hebrides several years ago, where a group of whisky enthusiasts had travelled to make whisky. On their return, they began to question why there weren’t any whisky distilleries in Devon. The county’s climate and soil are perfect for growing great quality barley, the granite geology of Dartmoor is a wonderful filter for clear spring water, and the exceptional air quality with sea breezes provide great storage during maturation. With outstanding local producers like Warminster Maltings, one of the oldest established traditional barley malting houses in the country, and more cask beer brewers than any other county in England, all the components to make a very fine single malt whisky are here in Devon. After working at Bruichladdich Distillery on the island of Islay back in 2009, the founder Greg Millar dreamt up this project. With the help of Simon Crow, this dream became a reality and Dartmoor Whisky was born.<br> Dartmoor Whisky is truly a product of the Southwest, made using local ingredients wherever possible. The barley is malted at Warminster Maltings in Somerset. Warminster are Britain’s oldest working maltings and malt barley using the traditional techniques of germination floors and good old-fashioned manpower, turning the barley with a malt shovel daily. The beer wash is brewed by local cask ale producers to Dartmoor recipe, specified by the Master Distiller Frank McHardy. The primary distillation takes the beer wash from around 9% to 25% ABV. After three primary distillations, the ‘low wines’ are returned to the still to produce the finished ‘water of life’ at around 70% ABV. Dartmoor spirit is then transferred into our carefully sourced barrels for the maturation process to begin. Dartmoor Whisky is matured in three types of barrels to create the distillery’s three core expressions: American oak Bourbon barrels, French oak wine barrels and Spanish sherry barrels.