TALU Smoked Mezcal Cask 8 Year Old English Whisky (70cl, 46%)

An eight-year-old English grain whisky from TALU, made from a mash of rye, barley and maize. It is matured in level-four charred American white oak, then finished in first-fill mezcal casks from Oaxaca. Bottled at 46% in a 70cl bottle, it is natural colour and non-chill filtered. The smoke does not come from peat. TALU reduces the spirit to strength with mesquite-smoked water, so the character is closer to barbecue embers than to a coastal, medicinal malt. The nose offers roast agave, barbecue embers, caramelised pineapple and lime zest, with a hickory note that builds as you nose it. The finish is long and smoky, with mesquite, leather and cacao.