Goldlys Pedro Ximenez Finish 12 year old review

The Pedro Ximenez finished Goldlys whisky is a limited edition release. It’s a double still whisky – using both, pot and column stills by the Belgian producers called Filliers distillery. It is a mix of malted barley and selected grains. I’m not a fan of grain whisky so unfortunately, it shows too much in this dram.

This 2012 release that I tasted came from cask 2600. It’s part of the Distillers Range, having a sherry cask finish before the bottling of the limited 900 bottles.

SCARFACE sherry whisky!

Even though 12 years of minimum age, this is aggressive because of the grains. The harsh side attacks right from the start and keeps on burning on the palate until the very finish, which by the way, was very quick. So it has the typical qualities of a mediocre grain blend.

I do like roughness in a whisky, but it has to be different kind of aggressiveness. Take Ardbeg for example – strong but not stingy. Goldlys was so stingy that I could almost imagine what cocaine might feel like. I’ve heard it stings very much. So this dram was like Scarface asking me to say hello to his little friends, the spicy grains.

I didn’t get any of the Belgian waffles, like someone somewhere had stated, I guess in a marketing way. Powerful, yet ruthlessly stingy spices hit my mouth and started to turn me into Scarface myself. Like Tony Montana in middle of his mountain of coke, flailing away with my sample of this double still whisky of barley and grains.

Matured in:

Ex-Bourbon casks, finished in Pedro Ximenez Sherry casks

Colour: Full gold

Nose: Oak and sherry dominate the aromas. Dry and stingy at the start but turns much smoother with time in the glass.

Taste: Spices and sherry at the start, cinnamon and ginger start to take over while the sherry influence remains subtly on the back. Hints of dryness with oak and earthy tones.

Finish: Fast blast of sherry and grainy notes with spices. Very quick.

Balance: No complexity or smoothness. Gives you a decent whisky fix, if you’re in a hurry. Subtle with the sherry, best part being the taste, even though it did try to rag doll me. Weak aftertaste.