Review #251 - Shortcross Inaugural Release Single Malt
From Rademon Estate Distillery, we have the Shortcross-branded Irish single malt. Their inaugural release came in late 2021, and it bears a 2016 vintage, giving it an age statement of 5 years. During that time, it spent time maturing in Grand Cru Bordeaux red wine casks and Chinquapin oak casks - we could find some fruity and spicy flavors in the bottle.
Shortcross Irish whisky is made using Irish grains - unpeated malted barley, in the case of this bottle. The distillery also experiments with other grains as well, notably using rye grain and peated malted barley, as well as unmalted barley. They began operations in 2015, so their products are still quite new.
Shortcross Inaugural Release Single Malt
Ireland - Single Malt
Current Locally Available Price: USD 380 (2024)
Age Statement: 5 Years
Strength: 46% ABV
Cask Makeup: Grand Cru Bordeaux red wine casks, Chinquapin oak finish
Details: 2016 vintage, bottled 2021, 658 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 2 months from a sample. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: A strong, dense nose - woody, a little bit musty, like some old red wine. There are baking spices of clove and cinnamon, some dry vanilla, and then a fruit side: orange seeds, little hints of dark fruit.
Palate: A medium thickness mouthfeel, and it's quite heavy on the cask influence despite the young age - lots of cinnamon spiced oak, tannins, pepper, and fruits of blood orange and raspberry. There are little hints of sour malt here and there, as well as soft vanilla.
Finish: Bits of sour malt and sour fruits: pomegranate, oranges, and raspberry jam. Cinnamon and white pepper, some oatmeal, and a bit of effervescence make up the aftertaste.
Final Note: Not lacking flavor, but the level of distillate influence and cask influence isn't particularly balanced - this leans very heavily to the fruits of the Bordeaux and the cinnamon spice of the Chinquapin oak. There is a nice sour malt character and effervescent sensation in the finish, but those are quite subtle. A bit of a standard inaugural release from a new single malt distillery - heavy handed cask play to cover up the youth, which worked relatively well, but doesn't give us a lot of complexity.
Since this came out a few years ago, and inaugural releases from new distilleries tend to be a collector's item, the cost of obtaining one of these bottles has shot up steeply - if you don't already have a bottle, it isn't a good value to buy now.
Our Average Rating: 6.3 / 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: 3.45
