The story of Pintail started back in 1931 when Matthew Gloag & Son bottled its ‘house sherry’ in Perth, Scotland. It won wide acclaim and numerous awards for its high-quality sherry wines and was featured in Tatler magazine throughout the 1950s.
However, the Pintail brand was bottled for the last time in the late 1970s and the trademark lapsed until 2021, when The Whisky Cellar, an Edinburgh-based independent bottler, re-registered the brand. The Whisky Cellar brought the label back to life in its original form. They used the classic black bottle with a label of a dabbling ‘duck in flight’ icon and red typography redrawn in the same form.
The first few releases under the revived Pintail brand weren’t actually whiskies at all but a French Brandy, XO Rum from Panama and a sherry wine, of course. As of late, The Whisky Cellar has released several single malt scotch whiskies under Pintail, all with funky cask finishing. In fact, there have been some industry firsts, such as Glenlossie finished in Italian Picolit wine casks and Glen Elgin in a stunning Floc de Gascogne sweet wine barrique.
The Pintail brand today is all about combining their expertise in selecting the right scotch whisky distillate for the right style of sweet wine cask to really take you on a journey of flavour exploration.
Pintail – The home of the sweet wine cask finish.
Latest Pintail whisky releases
Just before Christmas, The Whisky Cellar brought out three new Pintail single malt releases: Glen Spey 2009 14-Year-Old finished in a Loupiac wine cask, Auchroisk 2008 15-Year-Old finished in a Fondillón wine cask and Teaninich 2015 8-Year-Old finished in two Vin Santo wine octaves. I was gifted a small sample set to try all three so all the tasting notes below are my own.
Pintail Glen Spey 2009
This 14-year-old Glen Spey spent nine months in an ex-Loupiac wine cask before it was bottled at 54.7% ABV.
What is Loupiac?
Loupiac is an ancient dessert wine made from Sémillon grapes in a small appellation on the north bank of the Garonne River, 30km south-east of Bordeaux. The wine is believed to have been in production since the 13th century. Loupiac gets its richly sweet style from hot sun-drenched vines and chalky, gravelly soil. The intense sunshine contributes to a high sugar content and concentrated flavours.
Tasting notes
Colour: Very pale yellow
Nose: Honey, slightly floral, rice pudding, Castagnole (small deep-fried balls coated in sugar with subtle citrus and vanilla flavour), shoe polish, fresh bread with crunchy crust
Palate: Salted cashews, canary melon, black pepper, dried apples, clementine peel
Finish: Peppery, brown toast, mouthfeel similar to after whipped cream
Pintail Auchroisk 2008
The second release is Auchroisk 15-Year-Old, which was finished in a Fondillón wine cask for ten months and then bottled at 54.3% ABV. This is another scotch whisky industry first!
What is Fondillón?
Fondillón is a sweet wine made in Spain’s Alicante province from locally harvested Monastrell grapes. The grapes hang on loose, dehydrated, sun-kissed vines overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and provide a low-yielding but densely sweet crop.
Since the 15th century, it has been regarded as one of the most luxurious ‘Regal Wines’, enjoyed within the palaces of Europe and among Spanish nobles. Protected by Denominaciones de Origen (DO) status, production today is much more limited and barrels for ageing are incredibly scarce.
Producers are known to fiercely protect their casks, holding them for several generations and preferring to repair old wood rather than replace it with new. The barrels acquired by The Whisky Cellar are known to be over a century old!
Tasting notes
Colour: Light pinkish copper – sticks to the glass creating small pearls
Nose: Turmeric, dried redcurrants, fruit & nut mix, sweet raisins, red grapes
Palate: Gentle spice kick, red chillies, cardamom, cinnamon, almonds, oak, dark berry jam
Finish: Figs, nuttiness, quite oily
Pintail Teaninich 2015
The last of the latest Pintail releases is Teaninich 8-Year-Old. It is finished in two ex-Vin Santo wine octaves (around 50-60 litres) for ten months and bottled at 55% ABV.
What is Vin Santo?
Vin Santo is a sweet dessert wine from Tuscany, known as the ‘Holy Wine’ due to the traditional fermentation of grapes around Easter time. One of the earliest known references to the ancient ‘vinsanto’ wine comes from Renaissance-era (c. 15th century) sales ledgers of Florentine merchants who marketed the sweet wine in Rome and other major cities.
Typically made from white grapes such as Trebbiano and Malvasia, which are dried on straw mats for months after harvesting to intensify the sugars, then slowly fermented before the wine is aged for many years (often decades) in oak barrels.
Tasting notes
Colour: Coppery red
Nose: Dried fruits, chocolate chip cookies, freshly baked cinnamon buns, gingerbread, dense Christmas cake soaked with rum, strawberry soup (kiisseli in Finnish)
Palate: Blackberry, raspberry, fig jam, prunes, cinnamon, orange oil, burnt caramel
Finish: Charred oak, white pepper, cinnamon bun, fairly long finish
Overall
All three Pintail single malt scotch whiskies have been aged in some of the rarest ancient wines of Europe. The Vin Santo finished Teaninich was a standout with a lovely texture, complex aromas and rich flavour profile. Also, the Auchroisk was really growing on me. I recommend you allow it to sit in the glass for a few minutes to open up those great aromas and flavours. It has a high viscosity, and the spices are well balanced with jammy notes. Very enjoyable.
I like how The Whisky Cellar has given new life to some old brands like Pintail and Brig O’Perth (an excellent blended scotch). Keith Bonnington, the brand owner, has 20 years of experience in the whisky industry and in 2013 he became a ‘Keeper of the Quaich’, a recognition for his contribution to the industry over the years. With Keith personally selecting casks and pairing the whiskies with right type of secondary maturation, you can be certain the quality is always there.
Have you tried any Pintail single malts before? How did you find it? Do you have a favourite wine cask finish?
Disclaimer: The samples were gifted by The Whisky Cellar. All images are from The Whisky Cellar.
