*Stauning Heather Single Malt Whisky - Pedro Ximénez Sherry Cask Finish Bottle. Image courtesy of Stauning Whiskey.*

Damn it, Stauning - you’re making me wish I had more friends in Europe every day.

They’ve done it again. Another flat-out fantastic, different, delicious bottle that I probably won’t get to get my hands on. Which puts me at a conundrum - do I keep it to myself and savor every milliliter, or share it with like-minded people who want to taste everything they can?

Of course, I went with the latter, but damn if it wasn’t a hard decision. This is a 4 year 9 month old whisky finished in PX casks. On paper, it shouldn’t work - the malt should still be young and grainy, the heather smoke might be too weak to stand up to the PX, the PX might cover everything in its path, and the proof should be raw and hot. Not a single one of these conditions is true.

It all just works.

This release is part of the Art Series, in more ways than one. The artwork for the three-piece set of which this is a part (the “Grey Matter” series) was designed by Martin Askholm (born 1967). As per Stauning’s release notes, Askholm was educated at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. Askholm is known for both figurative and abstract art, often inspired by pop art and Japanese folklore.

The “kinetic abstraction” is dizzying and representative, making more sense after the bottle is opened than before. It’s a brash and colorful amalgam that seems random at first then clicks into place. The reds and pinks and purples for Pedro Ximenex sherry, the beiges and yellows for the malt, the black and brown for heather and smoke. Art is interpretation, and this is how I’m interpreting it.

Let’s dig a little more - if this is the first review of mine you’re reading, welcome! If not, you know I love Highland Park and their heather-based peat, more so than Islay, Lowland, or Highland peat (though I’m warming to each in turn). Heather is a shrub best suited for acidic and loamy European soils, with pink-purple flowers. It can handle salt spray - a necessity both in Orkney and on the Danish coast - and stays close to the ground, also a necessity in both places (especially in Orkney, where the winds blow so hard no trees grow there naturally). Heather creates a completely different peat and smoke profile than typical bog peat, focusing mostly on a woodsmoke-like presence with minimal salinity and no medicinal qualities at all. It’s sweet, like smoking hard fruitwood for a large, slow-cooked hunk of meat.

This bottle takes that aromatic, fruity woodsmoke and adds that meat right on top, lacquering it with a thick brown sugar barbecue sauce on fatty pork ribs. That sauce drips down into the heather smoke and warm coals, creating a sugary ash on the finish reminiscent of a sweet cigar. It’s oily, coating, filling, and mouthwatering.

That’s really all you need to know, isn’t it?

Stauning Heather Single Malt Whisky - Pedro Ximénez Sherry Cask Finish: Specs

Classification: Danish Single Malt Whiskey

Origin: Stauning Distillery

Mashbill: 100% Malted Barley

Proof: 110 (55% ABV)

Age: 4 Years 9 Months Old

Location: Denmark

Stauning Heather Single Malt Whisky - Pedro Ximénez Sherry Cask Finish Price: $99

No Official Website

Stauning Heather Single Malt Whisky - Pedro Ximénez Sherry Cask Finish Review: Tasting Notes

Eye: Dark amber maple syrup. Thick rims and syrupy droplets.

Nose: Sweet barbecuing chicken, Kansas City style. Hint of smokiness, salty pork ribs. Herbal note from the heather. It’s clearly not your usual peat profile, adding smoked plums and cherries.

Palate: The sweet and salty pork rib comes full force, with flake salt and a brown sugar barbecue sauce. The heather is beautifully aromatic and floral, adding sweet herbs into the mix. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, just a touch of proof on the tip of my tongue. Peppery and ashy on the back end like going from center ribs to burnt ends.

Finish: Goes on forever. Delicious, rich, sherried, and lacquering. There’s an ashy note at the end like a sweet-tobacco cigar.

Overall: Wow - a real wow. Under 5 years old? Unbelievable. The base holds up like a much more mature whisky, and the PX, a powerhouse, is kept in check by that and the proof. Truly something special and worth seeking out.

Final Rating: 8.3

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Old Label Batch 4 or 2, Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (Stagg Jr. Batch 10, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Has promise but needs work

1-3 | Let’s have a conversation