Okanagan Spirits Laird of Fintry Rum Barrel Finish
42% ABV - British Columbia, Canada
Nose: Upfront spices and fruits, with some citrus-based astringency (tamed with a little time and water), and then it works its way into sugars, butterscotch, and vanilla. Banana notes start to appear after time with some floral and grasses.
Taste: Distinctly spiced, with fruits, malty notes, and banana (no hiding that from me now). There is some kind of cake flavour in there as well – vanilla rum cake?
Finish: Lemon, apple, banana again, citrus–possibly oranges, and then it flattens out with spices (ginger, pepper, chili), fruits, and bread. Quite a lot going on, and it’s good! Medium length.
I wish that I had the regular version of Okanagan Spirits’ Laird of Fintry to do a side-by-side with this review (or the cask strength, yum). When I was at the distillery in Vernon, BC this summer, I had a flight of the original, Cask Strength, Rum Barrel Finish (this one), and their cask strength "bourbon-style" BLK BRBN. At the time, I scored the Cask Strength and Rum Barrel Finish similarly–4.25/5–but this is the bottle I ended up taking home, as I found the flavours to be the most unique compared to what I already had in my whisky arsenal. It would be interesting to spend more time with them together.
There is no age statement here but it’s likely in the 4-5 year range, with up to 1 year of that spending time in the Martinique Rhum barrels. Nothing official on the website, but there are a couple YouTube reviews out there suggesting this for aging.
The nose is all over the flavour wheel, but that’s not a bad thing. It ends up being quite the journey over the sitting and builds up anticipation. I haven’t had very many rum finished whiskies and I have liked even fewer. I surprised myself (is that possible?) when I wanted to take this one home. I did opt for the 375mL or half-bottle version, and I am glad that Okanagan Spirits has these smaller sizes available!
Tasting Notes (Official): This rum-barrel, double-wood Laird is for the seafaring whisky lover. With a hat tip to BC’s coastal heritage, this fine grog exudes generous waves of caramelized plum, winter-spice, and sticky-rum-pudding. Our Admiral of a single-malt is to be sipped slowly with your crew, allowing the fruit undertones and toasted oak to gently roll across your palate. Let your senses experience the exceptional while you lift a glass to toast the Laird’s swashbuckling twin.
Tasted 21 October 2020. (Posted 27 October 2020.)
