“Child in Time”
Whisky Review # 718
Country: The Netherlands
Region: Limburg
Brand: Gerlachus WiskiE - Batch 10 (Bottle # 148) - Bottled October 8, 2016
Type: Single Malt WiskiE
Age: NAS - Probably 6-12 months.
Age: NAS - Probably 6-12 months.
Alcohol By Volume (ABV): 40%
Maturation: Fresh French Oak (Quercus Robur)
Chill Filtration: No
Price Range: Around US$ 40 for 0,5 Liter (April 2018)
Sample provided by: Jan Bronkhorst. Many Thanks!
Buying Advice: 😒 Nose Okay. Palate & Finish are not. Negative P/Q ratio.
Colour:
Chestnut (Natural Colour). Very dark colour for a Spirit that matured less than 1 year. It suggests intense Wood contact using small casks and maybe Oak chips. I don't have specific information on this though.
Nose:
The dark colour can't hide the fact that we are Nosing a young Spirit. I must admit however that you wouldn't give it 6-12 months. The process used by this Dutch distillery certainly succeeds in disguising the fact that we are dealing with a very young product. The Nose is very Soft and Sweet and relatively Simple but doesn't present any aggressive (off-) notes.
Main Aromas:
Toasted Cereals, Slightly Burnt Buttered Toast, Pencil Shavings, Toffee, Vanilla, Nuts and Nutshells and Dried Fruit (Apricot and maybe Plums).
Supportive Aroma Accents:
Honey, inexpensive Brandy, Nougat, Apple, Resin and Pear and perhaps Peach both on Heavy Syrup. A very distant hint of Smoke.
Palate:
Not aggressive but very Thin and Watery. The Alcohol is much more present. It's hard to picture it as a Whisky/WiskiE at this point.
Main Flavours:
Toasted Cereals, Alcohol, Toffee, light Citrus, Pepper, Pencil Shavings, Varnish and Menthol*.
Supportive Flavour Accents:
Nutmeg, Cloves, Soft Smoke and Candies*.
* Please note that most Flavours are mere hints/suggestions with the exception of Cereals, Wood Spice and Alcohol.
Finish:
Short, Watery and Thin. The Alcohol is much more noticeable by now. Sweet at first but quite Dry towards the end. I find Toasted Cereals, Sugar, Margarine, Fresh Oak, Varnish, Toffee, Artificially Flavoured Fruit Candies, Menthol, Pepper and a puff of Smoke.
Drinking Advice:
On account of the small size of the sample, I only tasted this Gerlachus neat. I can easily imagine however that added Water will probably kill Palate and Finish.
Rating: 70
Nose: 18.5 - Taste: 17 - Finish: 17 - Overall: 17.5
Drinking Experience:
Borderline. Saved by the Nose.
Conclusion:
Gerlachus is located in Hulsberg (Limburg) and was founded in 2002 as a Beer Brewery. In the meantime they also produce WiskiE, Whisky and Liqueurs. The Gerlachus WiskiE/Whisky is made of Malted Barley, some of it peated. Gerlachus is distilled twice in a copper pot still. Half of the production matures for 3 Years in Oak Quarter casks and will be bottled as of September 2018 as Whisky. The other half matures much shorter but more intensive. During around six months, the casks are matured using different temperatures, different humidity and different pressure. It's tested before bottling to verify if the Spirit needs to mature a bit longer. At this stage it can't be called Whisky by law, hence the name WiskiE.
The sample I'm tasting today is part of Batch # 10, Bottle # 148 out of a total of 150. The dark colour suggests a longer maturation than six months. The capacity of the distillery was increased in 2015.
This Gerlachus WiskiE makes it clear that modern production techniques are quite capable of speeding up the maturation process. I must admit that I was impressed by the Nose and Colour of this WiskiE. The Nose is quite simple but not unpleasant and it misses any aggressive (off-) notes. The very Thin, Watery and almost flavourless Palate and Finish however also clearly show that making a real Whisky requires a lot more time and effort. I applaud the initiative and I'm certainly looking forward to experiment a matured Gerlachus. But making Gin might perhaps be a better option to improve cash-flow than WiskiE.
Maturation: Fresh French Oak (Quercus Robur)
Chill Filtration: No
Price Range: Around US$ 40 for 0,5 Liter (April 2018)
Sample provided by: Jan Bronkhorst. Many Thanks!
Buying Advice: 😒 Nose Okay. Palate & Finish are not. Negative P/Q ratio.
Colour:
Chestnut (Natural Colour). Very dark colour for a Spirit that matured less than 1 year. It suggests intense Wood contact using small casks and maybe Oak chips. I don't have specific information on this though.
Nose:
The dark colour can't hide the fact that we are Nosing a young Spirit. I must admit however that you wouldn't give it 6-12 months. The process used by this Dutch distillery certainly succeeds in disguising the fact that we are dealing with a very young product. The Nose is very Soft and Sweet and relatively Simple but doesn't present any aggressive (off-) notes.
Main Aromas:
Toasted Cereals, Slightly Burnt Buttered Toast, Pencil Shavings, Toffee, Vanilla, Nuts and Nutshells and Dried Fruit (Apricot and maybe Plums).
Supportive Aroma Accents:
Honey, inexpensive Brandy, Nougat, Apple, Resin and Pear and perhaps Peach both on Heavy Syrup. A very distant hint of Smoke.
Palate:
Not aggressive but very Thin and Watery. The Alcohol is much more present. It's hard to picture it as a Whisky/WiskiE at this point.
Toasted Cereals, Alcohol, Toffee, light Citrus, Pepper, Pencil Shavings, Varnish and Menthol*.
Supportive Flavour Accents:
Nutmeg, Cloves, Soft Smoke and Candies*.
* Please note that most Flavours are mere hints/suggestions with the exception of Cereals, Wood Spice and Alcohol.
Finish:
Short, Watery and Thin. The Alcohol is much more noticeable by now. Sweet at first but quite Dry towards the end. I find Toasted Cereals, Sugar, Margarine, Fresh Oak, Varnish, Toffee, Artificially Flavoured Fruit Candies, Menthol, Pepper and a puff of Smoke.
Drinking Advice:
On account of the small size of the sample, I only tasted this Gerlachus neat. I can easily imagine however that added Water will probably kill Palate and Finish.
Rating: 70
Nose: 18.5 - Taste: 17 - Finish: 17 - Overall: 17.5
Drinking Experience:
Borderline. Saved by the Nose.
Conclusion:
Gerlachus is located in Hulsberg (Limburg) and was founded in 2002 as a Beer Brewery. In the meantime they also produce WiskiE, Whisky and Liqueurs. The Gerlachus WiskiE/Whisky is made of Malted Barley, some of it peated. Gerlachus is distilled twice in a copper pot still. Half of the production matures for 3 Years in Oak Quarter casks and will be bottled as of September 2018 as Whisky. The other half matures much shorter but more intensive. During around six months, the casks are matured using different temperatures, different humidity and different pressure. It's tested before bottling to verify if the Spirit needs to mature a bit longer. At this stage it can't be called Whisky by law, hence the name WiskiE.
The sample I'm tasting today is part of Batch # 10, Bottle # 148 out of a total of 150. The dark colour suggests a longer maturation than six months. The capacity of the distillery was increased in 2015.
This Gerlachus WiskiE makes it clear that modern production techniques are quite capable of speeding up the maturation process. I must admit that I was impressed by the Nose and Colour of this WiskiE. The Nose is quite simple but not unpleasant and it misses any aggressive (off-) notes. The very Thin, Watery and almost flavourless Palate and Finish however also clearly show that making a real Whisky requires a lot more time and effort. I applaud the initiative and I'm certainly looking forward to experiment a matured Gerlachus. But making Gin might perhaps be a better option to improve cash-flow than WiskiE.
Jan van den Ende April 23, 2018
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