Circumstance Distillery 6 Year Old Organic Single Grain Barley Whisky, 70cl
This is the first Circumstance whisky to carry an age statement. It spent a full six years in an oloroso-conditioned cask, which is older than most English whisky, where three to five years is typical.
The mash bill is 85% organic malted barley and 15% organic unmalted barley, fermented for 14 days on a saison yeast and distilled through a copper whisky hood and a four-plate column. Because part of the barley is unmalted, this is a single grain whisky rather than a single malt under the English Whisky rules; the unmalted barley typically adds a firmer, slightly oily texture, and saison yeast is known in brewing for peppery, fruity character.
An oloroso-conditioned cask typically brings dried fruit such as dates and raisins, along with nutty depth and gentle spice, and six years has given it time to work. At 47.9% Alc., it works neat, and a drop of water is entirely optional.
We think this is a good bottle for anyone who assumes English whisky is always young: it shows what Circumstance's flavour-first approach does with extra time in cask.
Circumstance Distillery is an organic whisky distillery in Bristol, run by Liam Hirt and Head Distiller Andrew Osborne. Their approach puts flavour first: multi-grain mash bills, brewing yeasts and long fermentations, with the casks adding the final layer. They choose not to make single malts, and even this barley whisky is built differently.
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