East London Liquor Company Whisky – London Rye
Distiller – East London Liquor Company
From – East London (shock)
Cask – Ex- Bourbon, French Oak, PX Finish
Age – 3-4 Years Ish
ABV – 46.8%
The first time I visited ELLC (I’m going to abbreviate that now) I was at a bar managers meeting in their cellars, at this point they were experimenting with ageing rum, gin and anything they could get their hands on. After, we sat a tried their whole range in the distillery bar, it is parted from the distillery by a few panes of glass, so you can see their beautiful set of stills. I remember on this day after trying their Vodka, Gins and Rums (which are all fantastic) I asked them about ELLC whisky. They said “It’s a work in progress, watch this space” after 4 years or so of watching ELLC’s space and keeping a close relationship, it’s here “London Rye” the first rye to be distilled, aged and most importantly drunk in London for 114 years.
Nose – Big Zesty orange initially backed by a hint of chocolate then comes Cardamom spice and I can’t stop thinking of sponge cake for some reason, and a little tickle of Liquorice in the background
Palate – A sweet burst at first quickly followed by bitter sweet Orange Marmalade, then drying out into raisins and dried apricots then backed up with cardamom and clove finishing with some leather and spicy tobacco
Finish – Long off dry finish with the zesty orange still leading. Subtle Leading into a oaky, minerally (think that’s a word) finish, that goes on.
Round up
An all-around great dram, it develops a lot over time, it has lots of hidden notes popping up so take your time with it. If you can get hold of a bottle buy it as its extremely limited. Now I have to wait and see what drams the ELLC team come out with in the future (I’m looking forward to it)