English Whisky: St George’s Founders Reserve

St George's Founders Reserve © Colin Hampden-White

Having been luck enough to obtain a bottle of the St. George’sFounders Reserve from the recent bottling, I was even luckier that Andrew Nelstrop sent me  a miniature for tasting. My thoughts were as follows.

On the nose:

Lots of vanilla and spice with a bit of soft fudge. A very slight citrus edge followed by a wisp of smoke. Quite heavy on the nose.

On the palate:

Much lighter on the palate, typical characteristics of the bourbon cask, caramel and vanilla with some toffee with strong citrus and spice, there is a touch of sweetness which develops into oaky notes. with a little water non of the flavours are lost and non really gained, but the whisky becomes smooth and creamy, so if you like this mouth feel then a little water helps, but it doesn’t need water.

St George's Founders Reserve © Colin Hampden-White

Finish:

The deeper notes of caramel and toffee keep going with a bit of spice at the end. Not a devastatingly long finish, but pretty good for a youthful whisky.

As with all the other whiskies produced so far at St. George’s this is good stuff, and with well under 100 bottles filled so far is difficult expression to find, but hunt hard and dig deep (especially if you find it on the secondary market), and it won’t disappoint the drinker or keeper.