Price: I can’t remember exactly. I think I paid around $250-$300 AUD.
Purchased From: Online Auction
ABV: 54.1%
‘Sweet As A Nut’ is a 16-year-old from distillery 121 with full maturation in a refill ex-Bourbon hogshead. Distilled on 2nd December 1999 with a total of 258 bottles. This is a bottle I picked up at auction along with another bottle I’ve opened and reviewed, 52.19. I can’t remember how much I paid for this, but likely over the odds considering it’s one of my favourite distilleries. It was stashed away for years and I actually forgot about it until SMWS recently started releasing a few new bottlings of 121. This seemed like a sign that I should open and enjoy it.
Nose
This nose is phenomenal; it’s like a candy shop mixed with a bakery of sweet treats. In Australia there’s an iconic brand of lollies called Allen’s. A popular variety of these is the Party Mix bag containing all different types of lollies in their range. Nosing this is like opening a bag of them for the first time – it’s surreal. This is combined with custard tarts, chocolate chip biscuits and some gentle floral notes.
Taste
Medium oily mouthfeel, but it coats the mouth well and has you salivating. It starts off with tropical fruits and that lovely clean citrus that distillery 121 is known for. Green apples, but reminiscent of flavoured candy rather than fresh fruit. That’s followed by vanilla slice, salted caramel and honeycomb. Medium finish with those vanilla and honeycomb notes lingering. I found a drop of water didn’t improve the nose but helped the taste open up quite well.
Conclusion
This is why I love refill casks. Not too much wood influence, and that fantastic sweet, fruity character of distillery 121 is what shines through. I didn’t get a lot of the cereal notes that you can get from some 121 releases with this one, but that in no way diminishes the experience. There’s not much to dislike about this release; if I had to pick one thing, it’s that it’s not really a session dram. While the sweetness is not overpowering, it’s not the kind of dram you will pour more than once or twice in a sitting.