Tasting

Anyone nosing an Omar Sherry Cask for the first time often expects smoke. Nantou delivers dark chocolate, raisins, a touch of clove and caramel instead, along with the wine-like sweetness of the sherry cask. The Bourbon Cask shows a lighter side: vanilla, light caramel, oily barley on the palate, and a hint of ginger on the finish.

The fruit casks push the profile in an entirely different direction. The litchi finish lays a perfumed, almost floral sweetness over the malty core, without ever feeling artificial. The fruit comes from the liqueur itself, not from a flavoring.

Most releases share a certain richness and sweetness, plus a warm spice rack of cinnamon and ginger. This is the result of the fast, hot maturation, which coaxes more flavor out of the wood in less time than a cool climate ever could.

This shows best at room temperature in a nosing glass, with a few drops of water added. The warmth first releases the fruit notes, then the spice comes through. Finally, dried fruit lingers on the finish.

A third line goes the opposite way: the peated release, bottled at cask strength and distilled with imported smoked malt. It smells of campfire and iodine. Unlike many Islay whiskies, though, it tastes rather sweet at its core — even here, the fruit-cask maturation shines through.

On the palate, the impression is often hard to pin down to just one ingredient. Sometimes the whisky feels like a fruit liqueur with a malty core, other times like a sherry with a tropical twist. It has little to do with the stereotype of smoky island whisky.