‘Vellichor’ is a new word and refers to the aromatic atmosphere within second-hand bookshops. For this project, they have combined complex and impressively mature whiskies from renowned distilleries, as well as parcels of blends that have been aged for many years in ex-Sherry butts, to encapsulate this unique fragrance.
Hints of leather, polished furniture and the crackling dustiness of decades-old pages on the nose. The palate is stacked with sumptuous malty notes, tropical fruit and Sherry character, with a delicate but persistent peatiness.
HIGHLAND PARK DISTILLERY
Eight recharred hogsheads. Aromas of musky dry leather immediately marked this parcel out as fundamental to the Vellichor project. On the palate this is ridiculously fruity and puts us in mind of lighthearted Victorian poetry read aloud while wassailing. Around 50% ABV.
BLENDED SCOTCH PARCEL
One refill Sherry butt of whisky dubbed ‘Old Orkney’. No connection to the closed Stromness Distillery, this nevertheless made us think of an anthology of Norse mythology, in the kind of chunky hardbacks produced in the early 1990s. Close to 42% ABV.
BLENDED MALT PARCEL
Two refill Sherry butts. Heavy cooked fruit and spice notes suggest an inherited, well-thumbed cookbook for desserts and puddings. Around 41% ABV.
CAOL ILA DISTILLERY
One refill hogshead. Beautifully old smoke but still with surprising juiciness – like an eighteenth-century almanac for orchard pruners, kept in the potting shed. Around 46% ABV.
ABV 44,6%
70cl