Wolfburn Review

“Will the Wolf Survive“

Country: Scotland
Region: Northern Highlands

Brand: Wolfburn (Handcrafted)

Type: Single Malt Whisky 
Age: NAS (In fact 3 Years) 

ABV: 46% 
Chill-Filtration: No
Whisky Review # 580
Buying Advice: 😔  Negative. The Price/Quality Ratio is inadequate at this point in time. This distillery has potential but only time can give us the answer.

Colour: Pale Straw/White Wine (Natural Colour) 

Nose: Young and Underdeveloped but not totally Unpleasant. The Earthy, Dusty Peat and the Smoke from a Distant Fire are noticeable but they remain quietly in the background. Toasted or even slightly Burnt Cereals, Green Vegetables , Grass and Straw are important drivers. I also find Vanilla, Unripe Orchard Fruit (mainly Pears), Lemon-Grass, Salted Nuts, Pencil Shavings, Dough, Toast, Fresh - and Dried Herbs, light Plastic and light Floral notes. By law, this Wolfburn can be qualified as a Whisky and in fact it developed well in just three years. Still, I get frequent images of German Obstler and Italian Grappa when nosing this Malt. The Alcohol is not fully integrated of course and it's a little Edgy. There are promising signs on the Nose but this Wolfburn is still far away from being a sufficiently developed Scottish whisky.

Palate: Slightly Creamy and a little Hot but certainly not Watery. The Alcohol and Youth are quite noticeable now. I also find Toasted Cereals, Unripe or Green Orchard Fruit, Green Grapes, Salted Nuts, Dough, Vanilla, Grass, Lemon, light Plastic, Dusty Road, Caramel, Floral Notes, Pepper, Ginger, Grappa, Mint and Oak. The Earthy Peat and light Smoke remain in the background.     

Finish: Not overly Long, Bitter Sweet, a little Hot and with a light Metallic (Iron) off-note at the end. The Dusty Peat and light Smoke remain in the background and are certainly not aggressive. I find Toasted Cereals, Toasted Salted Nuts, Beer, Vanilla, Unripe Pear, Grapefruit Juice, light Oak, Pepper, light Licorice and hints of Tutti-Frutti Bubblegum, Tobacco and Chocolate. 

I added a little Water and on the Nose, the Orchard Fruit develops. It's actually closer to a New Make Spirit this way. Palate and Finish become too Thin.

Rating: 80 

Nose: 20.5 - Taste: 20 - Finish: 19.5 - Overall: 20

General Remarks: Wolfburn is a very young distillery. It was founded in 2013 on the outskirts of Thurso, very close to the ruins of the old Wolfburn distillery that was founded in 1821 but closed down at the end of the 19th century. Wolfburn is owned by Aurora Brewing Ltd and has a current production capacity of 135.000 litres. It replaced Pulteney as Scotland's most northerly distillery on the mainland. The Wolfburn I'm tasting today was released in early 2016 and is the first general official bottling. It matured in Refill Ex-Bourbon Barrels and a few Quarter casks that previously held Islay Malt. The average price is around 50 US Dollars (December 2016). 

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good. 

Conclusion: The Wolfburn certainly shows potential as the Spirit developed quite nicely in only three years time. We all love new distilleries and we all wish them well. We also understand the necessity of young distilleries to make some quick money to control the cash-flow as the investments are heavy. Nevertheless, we also need to look at it from a consumer's perspective. Should we really pay 50 US Dollars for such a young, underdeveloped Malt as is this Wolfburn? Our hearts may say yes but our heads will tell us to wait a little longer. We can only hope that this young distillery, like others in a similar situation, will manage to overcome the first difficult years. In fact, I honestly believe the Scottish Development Bank should have adequate credit lines in place for new, starting whisky distilleries. Lines that consider the fact that good whisky needs time to mature. So the question is: Will the Wolf Survive?". Based on this young Malt I certainly hope that Wolfburn will.     

Jan van den Ende                                                                December 8, 2016

Wolfburn Distillery