Deanston Warehouse 4 Tasting

Before going on this tasting I noticed there weren’t a lot of reviews online (see TripAdvisor), so just thought I’d collate a few thoughts and some photos in case anyone else it wondering what the Deanston Warehouse 4 Tasting is like and whether it’s worth it.

In short: yes. Deanston is a really fascinating site – the location, buildings and village are all notable. The tasting was worth the £35, the casks tasted were top notch, 3 were 19 years or older and Brian was an excellent guide. This was an afternoon tour so we didn’t go crazy, but I think you could’ve got a topped up with a dram or 2 if requested. Drivers were well looked after too, with a nice set of samples to take home.

Here’s what we got on the day:

#1 Lapanto Brandy (Jerez)
First in a Canadian Oak Butt
10yo | 59% | 2012

#2 Organic, Fino Cask
Bypassed the feints receiver (so less oily)
22yo (nearly 23) | 2001 | 53.8%

#3 Amontilado Butt (Morella)
19yo | 2014 | 50.5%

#4 Port Pipe
11 years in bourbon first
30yo (29yo in shop) | 47.5%

My 2 favourites were #1 (taking into account its age) and #4. The brandy cask was really interesting and a great start to the tasting, whereas the port pipe gave a ludicrous ruby-red, thick and sweet dram to finish off. But they were all great!

I’m now a bit of a Deanston fan, when it was only mildly on my radar before. This tasting was partly inspired by trying this Deanston Union Exclusive Fino 2013/2020 a few months prior. It was amazing: big wood and candy on the nose, a massive sherry sweetness, raisins and nutty tastes with oranges on the finish. I preferred it to the older fino cask in the tasting (although they were a few months apart, so who really knows). Oh, and finally, they also had this 1967 Littlemill in the warehouse…!