Brave New Spirits The Curious Sister (Glenlossie 13yo) & Brave New Spirits The Thane often Fife (Macduff 10yo)

Brave New Spirits The Curious Sister (Glenlossie 13yo)

Region: Speyside

ABV: 54.1%

Price: £97.00

This release was distilled in December 2009 and matured until July 2022. Towards the end of its maturation, it was finished in a first-fill Amontillado Sherry Barrique. A total of 258 bottles were released.

Nose

The nose opens with an initial hit of soft ginger cake, green apple skin, along with a little bit of fresh cut grass. Going back, we're finding rich sherry aromas, some chocolate coated walnuts, chewy toffee, butter biscuits and a sprinkling of cinnamon. The alcohol feels a touch warm in places, but overall the dram feels relatively well balanced, where one nostril seems to get more of the original sweet bourbon cask, and the other gets the nutty sherry influence.

Palate

The palate is very sherry forward, dry, nutty with a hint of balsamic vinegar, warm ginger spice, an assortment of roasted nuts, a hint of salted caramel and a bit of vanilla shortbread as the palate develops. It's quite a punchy dram, the alcohol is definitely giving a peppery spice, but there's enough cask influence to balance this. The mouthfeel is decent, it's got a caramel like texture to it.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has a bit of whole wheat seeded bread, pickled ginger, freshly grated nutmeg, alongside a little raspberry puree. It's got more of a biscuity, malty aroma now, but still maintains a lot of the nutty, salty sherry influence.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate doesn't change too much, it's primarily nuts, balsamic vinegar, ginger and a bit of peppery spice. The water has brought down some of the alcohol bite, but it's still got a bit of a kick. The syrupy mouthfeel is also maintained.

Conclusion

Unmistakable sherry, and a dry one at that. It's more sherry than whisky for us, not the syrupy type but the salty, nutty kind that we quite enjoy from time to time. If you like Amontillado, you'll like this. For us it's a 7/10.

Score: 7/10

Value

This is a good whisky, but its price is likely why it is still available for purchase.

Brave New Spirits The Thane often Fife (Macduff 10yo)

Region: Highlands

ABV: 56.2%

Price: £82.00

This release of 10-year-old whisky was distilled in December 2011 and matured until July 2022, finishing its maturation in a first-fill PX Hogshead. A total of 385 bottles were released.

Nose

The nose opens with black cherry jam, biscoff spread, heaps of raisins, some dates, and macerated strawberries... lots and lots of fresh PX influence. Behind this sits some green apple slices dipped in toffee sauce, brandy snaps and some boozy wine gums. The alcohol is fairly apparent, but again the sherry is able to stand up to this.

Palate

The palate opens with hard toffee - think slightly less creamy Werther originals, red grape juice, blackcurrant cordial, some crushed blackberries too. It's quite acidic, and less sweeter than we were anticipating. Behind this sits some vanilla wafers, bitter chocolate and dark cherry liquor. The mouthfeel is decent, a simple sugar syrup-like texture, and the finish has a decent length with a little maple syrup and white pepper spice.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose becomes slightly sweeter, with more of a caramel/fudge like profile. There's also a toasted, almost burnt aroma that's appeared, charred staves, alongside stale sponge cake, ginger and a bit of raspberry in the background too.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate continues along the same lines as before, but with a bit more bitterness, more dark chocolate, a little cherry, some spent coffee grounds too. The finish feels a little pepperier, we'd have expected the water to mellow the alcohol a touch.

Conclusion

Quite a punchy PX cask finish, very dark fruit/berry forward on both the nose and palate. It's quite boozy and doesn't have some of the sweetness we were hoping for from the PX maturation, but it's a decent whisky that we'd be happy to drink a dram of.

Score: 6.5/10

Value

Another release that remains available due to its higher price point.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

If you like what you’ve read then check out our social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to get notifications of when we post a new review or just to chat about whisky with us.