Enchantress, The Spell Binder, Mesmerisingly beautiful and wise.
She weaves magic, holding all who partake under a spell.
Our second release of Enchantress comes from a vatting of one 220 and one 100 litre casks previously containing McWilliams Apera. The casks were scraped and given a low char to achieve a well balanced whisky. It has beautiful mahogany appearance; a silky mouthfeel with dried fruit, cream sherry and light oak on the palate. So easy drinking. Both casks were over four years old and with the larger cask format we are seeing a bit more of the lovely clean and estery spirit that Tria Prima is well known for.
Enchantress Batch #02
Nose: Good stewed fruits and baking spices, balanced vanillins, soft sweet florals with a little rose oil, maple syrup/fenugreek (sotolon?) and well used humidor. The spirit brings a hint of doughy grist, plus the typical Tria Prima esters, though there's a little less banana and a bit more white stone fruit; perhaps evolution of the spirit's maturity.
Palate: A bit more of a gristy/doughy malt aspect, then a return to much of the nose's profile; sweet florals interspersed cyclically with the spirit's ester profile and stewed fruits, the whole being set to an even tempo of cask spices (seeming chiefly a myriad phenolic/[aldehyde] composition) and more maple/nutty syrups.
Water, time and exploration reveal further suggestions of tobacco, dry walnut and some nice buttery/almond caramelised aspects. Palate weight is moderate with soft tannins bolstering mouthfeel, but again, perhaps more restrained than in Enchantress batch 1.
Comment: A best of both worlds bottling; the DNA shows inextricable links to the first release, but with pleasantly subtle differences made evident by comparison. A delight to evaluate!