Firkin Rare Inchgower 2010 PX

We are pretty Firkin excited to PREMIER another EXCLUSIVE treat from the amazing Firkin Whisky Co…the latest in the Firkin Rare range – the Inchgower 2010 Pedro Ximinez Single cask. We’ll be either be the first in Australia to get this… or the only ones in Australia to get this –it’s up to you SMWC!

The Inchgower Distillery distilled this Speyside single malt in 2010. It was initially matured for just over 10 years at the distillery in an ex-bourbon hogshead. It was then transferred to its Firkin custom cask (seasoned with delicious Pedro Ximinez) where it took on those delicious fruity notes for just shy of 2 years.

Now Inchgower Distillery, owned by spirits multi-mega-international-conglomerate of brands, Diageo, produces over 2 and a quarter MILLION litres of pure spirit annually. However, less than 1% of that is available as single malt whisky – the rest is used in various Diageo blends (namely Bells, Johnnie Walker and White Horse Blends). Of the 1% that ‘escapes the blends’ only a couple of distillery single malt bottlings have been made available by Diageo – both of those in the ‘Flora and Fauna’ and ‘Rare Malts’ Series – both created by none other than… Mike Collings! The rest of the Inchgower single malt is matured and released by the Indy bottlers (bless their little barrel buying hearts).

Now, the Firkin Whisky Co are independent bottlers – but they have a major difference to most. They find aged whisky, then finish it in their own custom-made casks. The ‘Firkin Rare’ treatment is a magical 2-stage process that produces some of the best whisky on the planet.

The first stage is the construction of their own ‘double wood’ casks. These casks are made of alternative 1st fill American Bourbon and New French oak staves. The deep-char ex-bourbon staves add characteristic vanilla notes whilst the lightly toasted char of French oak imparts aromatic roasted coffee notes. The combination of 2 different woods and char levels creates a bespoke oak profile and a custom cask totally unique to Firkin.

Stage two of the Firkin Rare process is called ‘Soulmate Pairing’ by Mike. Each whisky is matched to a type fortified wine, which will bring out the best in that whisky. This month’s Firkin Inchgower has been ‘soulmate paired’ with Pedro Ximinez. The bespoke Firkin casks then are soaked with the selected soulmate wine for around 6 months prior to filling and then left for up to 2 years to develop an impressive depth of flavour. Neither the original distillery nor any other independent bottler goes to these lengths to curate and mature a single malt like this.

Nose: Quite a complex nose on this one- there’s a real malted milk shake feel to the nose at first, but further investigation brings out sweet floral notes over vanilla beans and C.W.A. peanut brickle.

Palate: Wow – so rich and thick and… creamy! There’s butterscotch, rich date pudding dancing with vanilla crème brulee – but then, also a nutty – almost almondine-ey note that sits in the background alongside just a poofteenth of … aniseed?

Finish: Definitely doesn’t disappoint with a big spicey fruit mince hit backed up by nutri-grain maltiness on the chewy fade out.

Pretty Firkin Moorish, Mr Collings!

Inchgower Distillery founded in 1871 has a very interesting history . Situated near the mouth of the Spey close to the fishing port of Buckie on the north east tip of Scotland .The folk that built Inchgower had expansion in mind as its traditional maltings which were built with a larger capacity than the original distillery.

The fishing port of Buckie was at one time home to the world’s largest fleet of drift net boats fishing for herring in the north sea and the Murray Firth…Sadly nothing remains of this once proud fleet.

Buckie is also famous for being the only town council ever to buy a distillery. When Inchgower got into financial difficulty in 1903 the town council stepped in and bought it…and sold it about 4 years later for 3 times what they paid for it. Wouldn’t it be great if we could have town councils who were this switched on today!

The distillery operates 4 stills and is classified as a lower Speyside. I choose this distillery as its rarely bottled as a single malt and has a great depths of character with notes of fruit ,smoke, dry raisins and a hint of coffee . Combine this with our unique Firkin custom built cask of new French oak & American Bourbon staves and condition it with PX then it gets the wow factor.

PX or Pedro Ximenez is an intensely sweet dark dessert sherry and we have used it sparingly in our custom cask conditioning so it doesn’t overwhelm the original Spirit but elevates it to a new level in this 2010 single cask release bottled in March 2022.

Mikes Tasting Notes

This is a dream of a dram and you won’t want to wake up. Laying dry grassy almost apple notes on a bed of raisin Pedro Ximenez sherry. This whisky has layers galore. A fascinating weave of creamy and crisp malt wrap around you as a zesty edged sherry fruit & toffee walnut pillow your taste buds. Very Firkin yummy

Cheers
Mike Collings – Firkin Founder

For those unaware, Mike Collings is a giant in the whisky industry. During his time with Diageo (world largest spirits business) he was the mind behind the famous Johnny Walker Blue plus a plethora of whiskies that are almost ubiquitous in any bottle shop around the world. In other words, Mike has been crafting ‘household name’ whiskies for the worlds largest brands for over 40 years.

Mike Collings could have retired with an incredible track record in whisky. He had created Johnnie Walker Blue & Green Labels, The Classic Malts, Rare Malts, Distillers Edition, Flora & Fauna series, Cardhu and Royal Lochnagar. That’s pretty Firkin good as far as CVs go.

Mike’s been working in whisky for 50 years. You couldn’t blame him for packing it in and putting his feet up. That would have been the sensible thing to do. But Mike is many things. Sensible isn’t one of them. Mike stirs the pot. He thinks about things differently and always asks: ‘what if …’?

So, he found himself enjoying a few drams in a Tokyo bar thinking: What if I created a whisky that was unique on the single cask single malt market?
So he did. And it’s Firkin awesome whisky.