Campbeltown Blend 2015 Claxton's Exploration 5 years 50% (PX hogshead)
Part of the inaugural outturn of Claxton’s Exploration series comes a blended malt from Campbeltown. As I understand it, this is a teaspooned malt. It spent only five years in a PX hogshead.
A teaspooned malt is one where a teaspoon (quite literally) of malt from another distillery is added to what would otherwise be a single malt. Legally you can no longer sell it as a single malt. This may have tax advantages or is perhaps demanded by the distillery themselves. If you’re curious as to what the vast majority of this malt is, Claxton’s have helpfully provided longitude and latitude coordinates on the label: 55.43 N, 5.60 W. Happy mapping.
Interestingly this bottle came with a coin underneath the cork seal. You can redeem five of these coins for a well priced exclusive bottle from Claxton’s, presumably to reward people who actually drink whisky.
Colour Amber.
Nose Oranges. Chocolate oranges. Milk chocolate digestives, honey on porridge. There’s a sort of earthiness, dirtiness to this. Fennel and menthol. This one’s pretty alcoholic, but does ease up with some time.
Palate Quite a sweet malt. Classic PX dried fruits: figs, dates, raisins. Tangerines and oranges. A little chalky. Thick honey. It seems ever so slightly peated: some smoke along with earthy chocolate. A little oak.
Finish Citrus peel and milk chocolate. A little spicy: cayenne and cinnamon. It’s a bit like a spiced honey tea. With the chocolate biscuits, of course. Long and especially hot.
Comments This dram needs a bit of time to open up. It’s heady and alcoholic, probably on account of its youth. But despite being a little brash, it’s a delightfully sweet and earthy malt with an orange twist. 82/100.
