Review #24 - Navazos Palazzi Grain Whisky
NAS World Whisky Mini-Series: Part 2 of 4
Here's our second whisky in this series: Navazos Palazzi, coming out of Spain. A country not known in the whisky industry for its liquor production, but rather for its contribution of sherry casks that are used to age so many whiskies from other countries, especially Scotland. Still, as the whisky industry as a whole has boomed over the past decade or two, we're seeing an increasing number of distilleries popping up on the Iberian Peninsula as well.
This particular bottle is an interesting one; Navazos Palazzi has a relatively small production of whiskies, releasing only one batch a year at most, and often none, as they also spend time distributing gins, rums, and other spirits. This particular release came out in 2016 and consisted of only 900 total bottles at cask strength, all of which were aged in Palo Cortado sherry casks. This is a somewhat unusual sherry in general, and especially so in whisky aging; there might be some unusual flavors present here for us to explore.
The grains of used in creating this spirit are also not particularly common: while this is made mostly of corn, famous of course for its use in bourbon and other American whisky varieties, this corn was grown entirely in Spain (as were the rest of the grains involved in these bottles). Might we see a bit of terroir individuality involved here as well?
Navazos Palazzi Grain Whisky
Spain - Grain Whisky
Current Locally Available Price: USD 105 (2023)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 53.5% ABV
Cask Makeup: 3 Palo Cortado sherry casks
Details: 900 bottle outturn; bottled in 2016; made from grain (mostly corn) grown in Spain
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle at 60% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Decent amount of oak up front, and a big smack of wine; it's very rich overall. Smells a lot like a heavily fortified dessert wine, and there's a hint of a chemical taste as well, maybe acetone. Then the sweetness comes forward in the form of orange fruit rind, and a meaty wood scent finishes us off.
Palate: Fake chocolate syrup, and some oak in there, but it isn't too dry. Instead, it's rich and sweet, with a medium-thick mouthfeel, very syrupy, and slightly synthetic overall. Chocolate covered cherries, a bit of maltiness, and a touch of another chemical - gasoline?
Finish: Medium length finish, and now it's starting to mellow out from the strange flavors of the palate. There is still some of that synthetic chocolate, as well as red fruit and full-bodied red wine. Oak is very mild, but grows with time, resulting in a tiny bit of tannins at the end.
Final Note: This is quite unique, and the Palo Cortado cask has added a somewhat heavy red wine and red fruit influence here. Another couple of rather unique flavors with the fake chocolate and gasoline add to the strange mystique around this bottle, and while it does provide a flavor few others can match, it isn't the most complex bottle in the world either. Very interesting to try at least once or twice, but with an asking price of $105 in our area, we're not sure we'll splurge on a full bottle.
Our Average Rating: 6.5 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 5.51
