Hyde whiskey has been hot on the release trail over the last few years adding a number of different editions to their already impressive family range of whiskeys. Today we are reviewing Hyde 1938 No. 6 Sherry Cask Finish blend, which comes to us thanks to the guys at Drinks By the Dram, through their Irish whiskey Advent Calendar.
Before we dive into the tasting of the whiskey itself, it would be remiss of me not to note the ire that Hyde has been (unintentionally) attracting from social media over the last year or so. A lot of people appeared to be unhappy with the lack of clarity in relation to their whiskeys’ origins and took to social media to voice their frustrations. Ever since I’ve been keeping an eye on what Hyde deliver to their audiences, and I think it is important to note that the Hyde group have appeared to have listened to consumers concerns. They appear to have been quietly re-shaping their web and social content and are delivering information with much more clarity and transparency and I for one commend them for this. You could say that they’ve got…. Nothing to ‘Hyde’….. (I’m sorry).
Anyway, enough bad puns and back to the whiskey. This is actually a Hyde edition that I haven’t had for a while, so I was glad that it reared its head in the Advent Calendar. 1938 is a blended whiskey that has received decent reviews online, in recent months and I was excited to throw my nose into it once again. It is apparently a blend of 8 year old grain and 18 Year Old Single malt, although it does not have any age statement on the bottle.
Tasting Notes by Matt Healy, Chief Editor of Potstilled.com
ABV: 46% (92 U.S. Proof)
Colour: Pale Amber
Nose: Sweet nose of Toffee, caramel, with undertones of chocolate, coffee and with a light wood musk underneath.
Palate: Warm, creamy palate with lovely honey tones, raisins, green apples, with a light touch of cinnamon and spices.
Finish: light spices remain, with light warmth, really the only indication that this whiskey is actually over 40% ABV.
Overall: This whiskey’s palate benefits greatly from being bottled at 46%. It has a great creaminess that plays very well to its bourbon barrel undertones as well as its light chocolate notes from the sherry cask. The whiskey has a slight sherry cask musk that is a flavour descriptor that basically was lost to eons of time after distilleries’ cask management systems started filtering out old barrels from use. This is a flavour that is derived from older casks that have seen many years of usage in maturation, it is a delicious flavour that many yearn the loss of. If I was to guess, I would say that this whiskey was matured in well matured sherry barrels that had many years of use under their belts, allowing the wood to not only impart some of its delicious sherry tones but also some of the lovely musty flavours also. A rare occurrence in today’s whiskey and a delightful find.
Sláinte.
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