INTRODUCING ATHRÚ 17 YEAR OLD OLOROSO SINGLE CASK RELEASE

We caught up with Athrú Head Distiller, Ollie Alcorn to hear about the decisions he made with the recently released 17 year old Oloroso Single Cask Release.

Athrú 17 yo Oloroso Single Cask Release

With Athrú single cask releases, buyers can taste whiskey in its purest form, direct from the cask. Our most recent release, 17-year old Oloroso finish Single Cask is an exceptional example of what can be done when using great casks.

As with wine, the type of cask used for maturing or finishing whiskey has a massive impact on the final flavour. The species of wood used for building the cask and the contents of what the cask held previously play an important role to create a specific style of whiskey.

Aged for 14 years in American bourbon casks and finished for three in the finest Oloroso sherry cask, waves of dried fruit and warming spices mingle with rich noble wood in this single cask release, creating a superb high-aged malt.

Oloroso is a wine made from palomino grapes and they have a perfect structure for oxidative ageing. Alcohol is added to the wine allowing it to age while exposed to oxygen without developing faults. The wine can range from rich amber to deep mahogany in colour, the darker the wine means the longer it has been aged. Oloroso is known for its warm, rounded, complex and powerful flavour which marries beautifully with whiskey.

The sherry used for seasoning this particular hogshead is dark, bold and complex. The reason for choosing this particular cask is for its depth and richness of flavour. The cask yielded just 310 bottles at 54.7%.

In a few short years of finishing the whiskey has transformed from a two dimensional clean but unexciting whiskey into a dynamic, well-rounded, flavour bomb of a whiskey. I put this down to the freshness and quality of the cask. The result has been magnificent!.

Athrú’s 17 yo Oloroso single cask release is available exclusively online here.