Nordic Whisky #174 - Isle of Lime Roma

Isle of Lime Roma, 3 YO, 50.1 %

The Isle of Lime Roma is the first publicly available whisky release from Gotland Whisky. It was released on 2017-08-01. I have previously reviewed two releases for shareholders (see here and here).

The Isle of Lime Roma is again a 50 cl bottling, and sells for SEK 492, which is very reasonable. The age is officially 3 YO. The oldest drops are 4.5 years and the average age is given as 3.6 years. Impressively this release is a batch of 11 500 bottles!

A few more facts:

• Barley: six-row 'polar barley', ecologically grown on Gotland
• Farms used: Halner farm in Bro and Sigdes farm in Rone
• Malting: at Sigdes farm in Rone, Gotland. Peat smoked for 9 hours
• Yeast: dry yeast for malt whisky - DistilaMax MW
• Cask sizes used: 96, 200, and 250 litre
• Casks filled: 2012-2014
• Bottles filled: July 10-14, 2017

All details on individual casks can be found here. The list details the following cask types which are straight forward:

• Sherrry Oloroso
• Bourbon barrel Ex-Laphroaig
• 1st fill bourbon
• American oak heavy toast
• American oak medium+ toast

Then they list the following which are a bit less clear:

• Bourbon barrel fresh
  • I would assume these are 1st fill bourbon barrels
• Kentucky oak medium+ toast
  • I assume Jack Daniels barrels, so would list this as 1st fill bourbon (or 2nd fill or even refill if they have been used several times)
• Bourbon char
  • Could be 1st fill bourbon, but could also be 2nd fill or refill bourbon

There is a total of 14.5 % oloroso cask matured spirit, 8 % Ex-Laphroaig cask matured, 32.2 % 1st fill bourbon cask matured (that we know for sure), and 9.6 % fresh American oak. The rest is a bit uncertain (see above). It is quite the eclectic selection of cask types used. that is for sure.

Puh! That's enough facts and numbers. Time to focus on the actual whisky!

Nose: Toasted oak, dirty chocolate and generous amounts of vanilla. A minor bitter-ish note in the back, but not really distracting. Medium level wood smoke notes. Some fresh oak notes tickling the nose. Tending towards dry.

Taste: Medium body and rather fresh mouthfeel. Coffee, chocolate and ginger flavored ashes. White pepper, mild sherry notes and a green-ish touch.

Finish: Medium long finish. Sweet wood smoke, ginger and vanilla. Grass and herbal notes sneak in and out - pretty laid back.

Comments: A very nice whisky at just 3 YO. Look out for what comes next from Gotland Whisky. They know their stuff.

Score (85/100)

Sláinte! - Thomas