I had never heard of Auld Goonsy’s Malt until I found a sample of one of their bottlings in a whisky Christmas calendar. It is a brand from Global Whisky Ltd, a Glasgow based bottler founded in 2017. It seems the UK is still the focus of their distribution but you can also find them in (German speaking parts of) Europe.
Our first encounter will be this Dailuaine. One of the blender’s malts par excellence, in my opinion.
Dailuaine 12 yo 2008 (57,6%, Auld Goonsy’s Malt 2021, sherry butt #308909, 574 btl.)
Nose: sweet and slightly buttery, with hints of popcorn and vanilla biscuits up front. Quite bulky, as expected from Dailuaine. A bready side unfoldes, with hints of yeast. Then simple syrup and caramel. There’s also sweet wood and toasted nuts. The charred side becomes bigger over time. Also hints of citrus and porridge in the background.
Mouth: still fairly sweet, with a firm spicy side to turn up the volume even further. Honeyed cereals, sweet bread and orange peels. Then toffee and caramelized nuts. Hints of muesli. Still this roasted element and meaty hints (spirit sulphur), as well as hints of chocolate towards the end.
Finish: long, malty and roasted, with pepper and a lingering sweet toffee note.
A rather characterful malt with plenty of weight. The sherry cask doesn’t result in classic dried fruits but more like a sweet spiciness. Available from Master of Malt for instance, with a full list of stockists on their website.