Just a few weeks in the past Bimber distillery launched a brand new collection Shoulders of Giants (introduced right here). It pays homage to thinkers, innovators and visionaries who’ve formed our world. Every launch options paintings and biographical particulars that remember the accomplishments of historic figures.
Three of them have been unique to the UK – offered by Bimber immediately (now offered out, or so it appears). The opposite three are solely accessible in Poland via Tudor Home. Right now we make a reasonably random choice from each units: Chopin, Shakespeare and Newton.
Bimber ‘Chopin – The Composer’ (52%, OB ‘Shoulders of Giants’ 2023, Fino sherry end, cask #513/28, 328 btl.)
Nostril: fairly nutty, with roasted almond and hazelnut. Spent matchstick heads. Charred apricots and lightweight hints of cigar bins. Then a pickled odor, nearly vinegary. Candy honey and citrus peels within the background, together with black peppercorns and a form of dustiness that jogs my memory of Oloroso bodegas down in Jerez.
Mouth: extra candy and bitter fruits at first. Plums and raisins, combined with cocoa notes, drops of clove oil, extra moist wooden. The gunpowdery edge remains to be there. Bitter chocolate and bitter herbs, some baking spice, salted walnuts and hints of marmalade. Peppery heat in the long run.
End: lengthy, nonetheless peppery, with bitter berries, the dryness of younger walnuts, and hints of chocolate.
Not a completely faultless Fino cask, for my part. However this makes for a really intruiging whisky that saved me coming again to it for a very long time. Furthermore it does take me again to the odor of a bodega.
The Shakespeare launch has been moreover matured in an ex-beer cask. It’s the distillery’s first launch from ex-barley wine casks, created in partnership with French brewery La Debauche.
Bimber ‘Shakespeare – The Playwright’ (57,7%, OB ‘Shoulders of Giants’ 2023, beer cask end, cask #517/30, 271 btl.)
Nostril: contemporary, inexperienced and frivolously minty. Loads of lemon notes, apples and peaches, melons, cream soda and loads of contemporary malt. Then a caramelized word, together with a frivolously hoppy / dried floral word which might be the beer affect.
Mouth: now the beer may be very clear. It brings a dusty maltiness, a dry leafy high quality, a frivolously natural bitterness and delicate aniseed. Some darker caramel beneath. Then walnuts and an more and more savoury trace. Humorous how many of the fruits appear to have been absorbed, aside from a bit of lemon.
End: medium, drying and pretty leafy now, with nutmeg and hay.
Once more an intresting very dry and un-fruity instance of Bimber. Barley wine performs in a distinct alcohol register after all, so this isn’t your typical beer cask. Total a worthy experiment. Rating: 85/100
Final however not least: Sir Isaac Newton, a frivolously peated launch, bottled from a primary fill American oak ex-bourbon cask.
Bimber ‘Newton – The Mathematician’ (58,3%, OB ‘Shoulders of Giants’ 2023, ex-bourbon cask #467, 256 btl.)
Mouth: good oily texture (basic Bimber) and the identical feeling of fruity spirit coupled to a light mineral and smoky facet. Peaches, apples, orange peels. Then mild menthol, inexperienced pepper and herbs. Chilly ashes, a bit of toffee sweetness and a rising ginger / pepper combo.
End: fairly lengthy, nonetheless peppery and minty, sharper than the nostril urged. The natural facet makes it a bit of drying.
A pleasant mixture of Bimber’s fruits and oily physique with ashy and leafy notes. I actually like fashion, so this may be my choose. Rating: 88/100
