Yesterday I was visiting Antwerp Belgium, and while in the neighbourhood I travelled a little further down south to visit the TastToe whisky shop in Boortmeerbeek. Without a doubt one of Belgium’s biggest whisky stores, with over 3000 different bottles to choose from. There I was lucky enough to sit in on a tasting of W.D. O’Connell Irish Whiskey’s given by none other than Daithí O’Connell, the man behind the brand himself. But more on that in the future, as today I will be reviewing one of the bottles I picked up in the store. The Thompson Bros. SRV5!
This SRV5 is a whisky composed of different single malts, that have all been aged for at least 8 years before being combined into a 1200-litre Solera vat. Here the different malts are left to integrate with whisky from the previous batch, until the team deems the next batch ready for bottling. The bottle I poured myself a dram from today contains whisky from the second batch.
Tasting Notes: Thompson Bros. SRV5
Stats:
ABV: 48,5% (97 proof)
Age: 8 years old
Bottled by: Thompson Brothers
Category: Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Chill-Filtered: No
Natural Colour: Yes
Setting:
It’s been a busy week and today I decided to give myself the day off, but since I do love a wee dram on the weekend, I decided to work a review into my free time. After all, whisky is best enjoyed with friends, and that’s why I love sharing it with all of you! I purchased several bottles yesterday, but out of all of them I was most eager to try the Thompson Bros. SRV5. So, I poured the dram neat into a Glencairn – put my feet up – and set about writing.
Nose:
There’s just the tiniest whisper of peat going on in the background of this nose, but still, you notice it instantly. It’s a tiny layer of smoke that’s reminiscent of baking a dessert in your oven while there’s still some leftover breadcrumbs charring in there. The dessert note I’m getting comes pretty close to a lemon custard, though there’s some banana in there as well. There’s some powdered sugar, and there’s a fatty doughy quality in there that makes me think of “Oliebollen” (a dutch treat). Come to think of it… this very much reminds me of “Berliner Bollen” a custard filled variant of the aforementioned Dutch treat. Water brings forth some tropical influences, as I’m suddenly noticing some dried pineapple in my dram.
Palate:
On the palate I’m getting a mixture of slightly unripe bananas, lemonade syrup and the powdered sugar finds its way back as well. I’m finding some mildly bitter (very pleasant) notes on the palate as well, which I couldn’t find on the nose. But other than that, it seems a good progression. The mouthfeel is quite oily, but not as fatty as I would have expected from the nose. It takes the dram more in the direction of a lemon custard cake than “Berliner Bollen”. Not a progression I saw coming, but nonetheless a highly enjoyable one. I’m happy to find that adding water brings out the same pineapple note as it did on the nose. Other than that, I’m also finding some honey this time around.
Finish:
The finish lingers quite long and it’s the lemon cake that reigns supreme here. Much of the creamy & oily flavours from the palate seem to fade into the background a bit, almost leaving behind a grainier influence on the spirit. I’m not finding any peat on the finish at all, if anything it reminds me of sipping a carbonated drink, as it leaves you with a similar tingly sensation on the tongue. It’s as if you’ve just sipped some carbonated lemonade (I’m getting a Spa Lemon/Cactus note from it, for those familiar with the drink). On the finish the added water reveals some of the honey that I found on the palate after adding water. But more than that it turns up the bitterness of the oak up by quite a margin, intensifying the feeling of carbonation. Despite the higher intensity it is still a pleasant bitterness though.
Verdict:
Given the age statement of only 8 years I’m quite surprised by the boldness of the flavours. It brings a lot to the table and at the same time it’s still a very affordable dram. I paid less than 50 euro for it and for a Solera Finished dram that seems more than reasonable. I’m eager to find out what the next batches will bring and how the solera vat will keep influencing the subsequent whiskies. This second batch already brings a lot to the table, and it will most likely only get better from here.
Rating:
87/100
Value:
B
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