Stranahan’s Sherry Cask-Finished Single Malt Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Introduced in 2017, Stranahan’s Sherry Cask is the latest offering in regular release from the Colorado distillery, and they didn’t spare the flub-dubs in making it. They started with their four year old single malt and gave it a finish in properly seasoned (four decades) Oloroso Sherry butts. None of that “Sherry casks made for the Scotch industry” stuff here!

Master Distiller Rob Dietrich felt going with the quite aged Sherry casks was necessary. Having received enough of a new oak aging to qualify as mature, the single malt coming out of Stranahan’s has a much hardier flavor profile than Scotch single malt of comparable maturity (not age, maturity) coming out of what is usually either an ex-bourbon barrel or a hogshead made of ex-bourbon barrel staves. In Dietrich’s view, he needed Sherry wood with its deeper, richer flavor to draw on if he was going to achieve a properly Sherried whiskey.

The Whiskey
Bottled at 94 proof, the whiskey has a shiny and scintillating orange look in the glass. The swish and coat left a beady crown and scattered, skinny legs around the glass.

The nose came across as thoroughly sherried, with dried and dark stone fruits atop malty honey, rounded out by an oaky note and a pinch of wood-driven spiciness. The palate is much the same, only a bit more refined and running a little deeper. It tastes of raisins and dried currants over the same malty honey base, with the spices coming out more distinctly as hot cinnamon and once again rounded out by a nice hint of oak. A quite modest note of tobacco leaf comes up on the back end, which carries over into the finish. That lingers for quite some time, with the tobacco fading under a hot cinnamon note that sits lightly on the tongue for longer than I want to go without taking another sip.

The Price
Officially, this number goes for $80.