Santis Malt Edition Cask 1130 Review

Country: Switzerland

Brand: Santis Malt Edition Cask 1130

Type: Appenzeller Single Malt Whisky

Age: 8 Years

ABV: 64%

Date: 20/12/2012

Colour: Dark Amber

Nose: The Cask Strength guarantees a strong Nose. There is quite some Alcohol there so give the dram time to relax and open up. After a while I get a very agreeable combination of Fruity - and Grassy tones. It's comparable to the Edition Germany but more sophisticated. I recognise Red Grapes, Plums, Straw, Wood, Malt, Caramel, Honey, Vanilla, Bourbon and Buttered Toast. This could have been bottled at a slightly lower ABV of around 50% in my opinion. But if you like strong Bourbons such as Knob Creek Small Batch 9 or Noah's Mill 15 you will love this Nose.

Taste: Strong Delivery as could be expected with Sweet Malt, Red Fruits, Caramel, Straw, Honey, Plums and Wood (Spices). A hint of Cocoa Powder. Palate and Finish of the Cask 1130 are significantly better than the (already very nice) Edition Germany.

Finish: Very pleasant and quite long with Red Fruit, Red Wine, Caramel, Plum Liqueur and Honey.

I added a few drops of Water and the Alcohol is of course subdued. The characteristics of the Nose do not change dramatically however although Caramel and Honey present themselves even more clearly. On the Palate the Red Wine notes and Spices become more dominant. You can certainly add a bit of water to this whisky. Personally I would prefer to Nose and Sip it neat as the various flavour components are nicely balanced that way.

Rating:  87.5  

Nose: 22.5 - Taste: 21 - Finish: 22 - Overall: 22

General Remarks: Cask 1130 is a special bottling of the Locher Distillery. Only 450 bottles of 500 ml were extracted from this old Pinot Noir Cask. Bottling took place on September 21, 2011 at a Cask Strength of 64%. This can't be a cheap whisky of course and bottles are sold at around 150 US Dollars. This whisky is only for sale at the Visitor Centre of the Distillery in Appenzell, Switzerland. It's Non Chill-Filtered and no E-150 was added.

Drinking Experience Neat: Very Good

Conclusion: This is an excellent and well-crafted whisky, no doubt about that. Some people might find it a bit on the strong side with an ABV of 64%. But the Pinot Noir Cask obviously was of excellent quality. The Red Grapes and Plums combine very nicely with the Sweet Barley, Honey and Bourbon-like Vanilla. The Finish is very pleasant and long-lasting. The Cask 1130 scored high in Blind Tasting sessions and deservedly so. I certainly hope that the Locher Distillery will take it from here and surprise us in the future with other well crafted, sufficiently matured and nicely finished Single Malts. 

Jan van den Ende                                                                   December 2012