"Gin House Blues"
Country: Belgium
Brand: Goldlys
Type: Double Still Whisky - Pedro Ximenez Finish - Limited Edition 2012
Age: 12 Years
ABV: 43 %
Date: 15/03/2014
Colour: Light Copper
Nose: Don't stick your Nose right away in the middle of the glass because the Alcohol is quite strong there. Better to nose the Goldlys along the edge of your glass. Here you will find lots of Grain (Wheat, Rye), Toast with Margarine and New Oak. It's quite dry actually. Some Sweet tones as well, mainly Sugar and Vanilla. Traces of Salt, Sherry, Varnish and Lemon.
Palate: Sharp Alcohol, slightly Bitter Wood, Salt, Pepper, Winter Spices, Ginger Ale, Lemon and a bit of Toffee. It reminds me of Spiced Gin.
Finish: Short and Spicy with Grains, Malt, Alcohol, Pepper and Salt. Quite like Gin or Dutch Jenever.
I added a bit of Water and the Nose gets extra Creamy Grains and a Margarine - Butter Mix. On the Palate and in the Finish the Alcohol looses ground. You can carefully experiment with a few drops at a time.
Rating: 70
Nose: 18.5 - Taste: 17 - Finish: 17 - Overall: 17.5
General Remarks: The Goldlys 12 PX Finish is Double Still Whisky.This technique uses both Pot - and Column Stills. Malted Barley and other Grains are used in the distilling process. It will be difficult to find a full bottle as only 1850 units were released in 2012. Currently it sells at around 85 Dollars. This Whisky is produced in the Villiers Grain Distillery, founded around 1880 and located near Ghent in Belgium. The distillery mainly produces Jenever and Gin. The Goldlys 12 PX Finish matures on Ex-Bourbon Casks from Clermont Spring and is being finished on Ex-PX Sherry Butts.
Drinking Experience Neat: Below Average
Conclusion: My first Belgian whisky and I'm disappointed. I had expected more from a 12 year old Single Malt with PX Finish. On the Palate the Sherry is hardly noticeable but the PX butt did provide a nice dark colour. The Nose is the best part of this Goldlys. Some nice Fat Grains and Vanilla and a touch of Sherry. But on the Palate and in the Finish this Goldlys much more resembles a Gin or Jenever than a Whisky. Maybe a mix of Refill Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Sherry Casks would produce a better result. I am really a supporter of the new Whisky producing countries and I wish them all the success in the world. But I do think they need to work on the Aroma and Flavour profile to be able to successfully compete with Scottish Malt in the future. As it stands, the Goldlys 12 Years PX Finish leaves me with a bit of the "Gin House Blues".
Jan van den Ende March 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment