Price: $185 AUD
Purchased From: SMWS Australia
ABV: 57.1%
‘Madeira’s Sweet Salvo’ is an 11-year-old from distillery 58. Full maturation in a 1st-fill ex-Bourbon barrel with a total of 230 bottles. This is a first for me with this release, having never tried a single cask from this distillery. In saying that, you’ll not see a great deal of independent releases from here. They provide a couple of original bottlings, but outside of that you won’t see much, with a lot of their spirit going into Chivas Regal. With that said, I was excited to try this release.
Nose
Fresh raspberries, apples, vanilla, a tiny bit of sultana. The alcohol is quite strong on this one; I found water opened the nose up a bit more.
Taste
A slightly buttery mouthfeel which surprised me; I was expecting it to be a bit thinner. Apricots, ripe pears, sponge cake with icing, brioche. Medium finish which brings out almonds and a little toffee. Water opened it up quite a bit on the palate also.
Conclusion
A very easy drinking dram, you can see why this distillery is used for the heart of Chivas Regal. It’s not overly complex and you don’t need to think too much when drinking it, and this is by no means a bad thing. Whiskies like this are needed for those times when you just want to relax and not think too much. I also found it was a very good malt for a whisky highball.