I must admit I haven’t tried many whiskies from the Zuidam distillery in the South of Holland (very near to the Belgian border). I hear some are good. For me, the Millstone 8yo French Oak was not quite there yet.
This Millstone 1999 was matured in a refill bourbon cask for 8 years (Kelvin Cooperage and Jack Daniels?) before being transferred to a Pedro Ximénez cask for a 5-year finish. It was bottled in August 2013.
Millstone 1999
(46%, OB 2013, Special cask #1, PX)
Nose: a pleasant surprise. A slightly oriental mix of sandalwood, rose pepper and cumin, alongside a juicy sherry influence. Red berries, fig syrup and raisins. Some dried apricots and honey. Not totally classic but very entertaining.
Mouth: very sweet, in a slightly strange way. It starts in a caramelly / syrupy way (brown sugar and preserved cherries) and then turns towards gingerbread and sweet liquorice candy. Lots of Dutch liquorice really. Plenty of spices again, mainly pepper and some aniseed. Bittersweet evolution.
Finish: quite long, some bitter notes but the sticky sweetness overtakes them. Cough syrup.
A bit quirky again, extremely sticky, a bit too much liquorice for me as well. Not sure whether the spirit or the PX cask was responsible for this result. Around € 75.
Score: 78/100