Filey Bay STR Finish Yorkshire Single Malt Whisky Batch-2 700ml bottle

Tonight’s dram takes be back (virtually) to the Spirit of Yorkshire distillery in Yorkshire, England. This time, we’re trying the FIley Bay Yorkshire STR. The STR aging/finishing technique has become a highly-effective method of rapid-aging, getting much more exposure of the spirit to the wood by using wood shavings, in addition to the wood cask, exposing much more surface-area of the wood (STR = Shaved, Toasted, and Re-charred). The Yorkshire STR opens with milk chocolate, candied orange, and red apples, followed by sweet cherries, tart strawberries, raspberries, pomegranate, and vanilla, then cinnamon, black pepper, and charred oak. The red-wine-cask STR really comes through with a punch of red fruits/berries, making this a much more flavorable dram than the Yorkshire Flagship. The light-oily mouthfeel and thin-and-runny legs deliver a medium-short, plesant finish of red berries and black pepper. While I haven’t seen the Scotts adopt the American methods of rapid-aging (e.g. STR), the English are definitely taking advantage. Drink slow, drink long, drink a variety, drink often.