Its always great to see a local business do well and flourish, especially, when they make whisky! Since its origins in 2017, the team at Henstone have built an ever-increasing roster of releases with plenty of awards for the end products.
Whilst the Toller family stay at the helm, last year saw a company restructure whereby original co-founders Alison and Shane Parr parted ways to focus on their Stonehouse Brewery operations but new investment came in from renowned local businessman Mike Harris (owner of mighty The New Saints FC aka TNS). The team have now relocated to a new site on Dingle Farm, Trewern – just inside Shropshire – very near to the England-Wales border.
If you follow Henstone or Chris Toller online, you’ll see the great photos of their releases with new stunning backdrops.
Here we look at one of their two ex-Sherry cask expressions: “Henstone Distillery English Single Malt Whisky – Matured in ex-Oloroso Casks”
The spirit spent more than three years in ex-Jim Beam (bourbon) casks and was then transferred to a 125 litre ex-oloroso quarter cask for finishing. The result is this stunning sherry influenced single malt whisky.
The whisky has been bottled at 46% ABV, at its natural colour, with no chill filtration. The latest batch has yielded 195 bottles, some of which are (at the time of writing) still available for £59.95 GBP.
Nose
A sweet and juicy start. There’s a good dose of malted barley smells amongst some vanilla, and strawberries. Touch of cinnamon spice and drying oak.
Taste
An initial puckering tartness and strength but then plenty of fruity flavours arrive with orange peel, raisins, and stewed apples. There’s a touch of creamy vanilla reappearing from the nose, which then melts away with warming heat and ginger spice.
Finish
Christmas cake fruits and red berry sweetness tingle away with a little drying oak finish.
Verdict
Everything you’d want from an oloroso cask finish: a good bit of body, a bit of bite, and some drying oak after lots of juicy sweetness.
The use of the smaller quarter cask with an Oloroso sherry is clearly making for some fast maturation and influence. The whisky has a bold reddish hue (though not too obvious from photo, sadly) and clearly adds bigger and bolder flavours to their base spirit and initial ex-Jim Beam bourbon barrel maturation. There’s a bit of an attack on the palate that suggests it is still a young spirit in the grand scheme of things but plenty going on, and a marked improvement and expansion in profile on the underlying spirit – which I rather enjoy already.
Last year I attended a tasting event hosted by Chester Beer & Wine and presented by Chris Toller. You can read the rather glowing notes and review here but it’s fair to say that the additional 8 months ex-sherry aged quarter casks are playing a big part of beefing up the base spirit and were my favourite two of the night.
With operations underway at their new site, and more space to expand and continue their experiments they are not only one to watch but one to enjoy right now too.
M
Sample disclosure: This was a purchased sample. All notes are intended as an honest, fair, and independent review of the whisky itself and not as a promotion. Please drink responsibly. Please drink wisely.
whisky unplugged 
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