King's Inch

A 'King's Inch' wasa unit of measurement based on the length of three fat barleycorns laid end to end. Nowadays the unit is much more specific, but a brand new distillery based in Glasgow are using this name as the branding for their first Single Malt whisky release.

Coming online in 2015, the Glasgow Distillery is owned by Courageous Spirits, who also produce Glas We Gin (see what they did there?). The distillery is one of the very last project from distillery consultant Dr Jim Swan, who was overseeing operations before his death in 2017. THe reins were handed to Dr Jack Mayo, who holds a MSc in Brewing and Distilling (as well as a PhD in Astrophysics) and Mayo himself is now working as a consultant for other new distilleries.

King's Inch uses barley malt from the West Coast, and is matured in both first-fill ex-Bourbon and ex-Oloroso Sherry casks. It's aged around 5 years, but I'm sure there'll be a range of ages within each batch.

This is an extremely pleasant dram, full of rich fruit. There is a youthfulness there, but it's not overpowering and adds a spiky and spicy note to the sweet fruit flavours throughout. For something so young, this has bags of character and I'm really intrigued to see how this whisky develops over time, becuase as with any new distillery that has had Swan's involvement, we're already seeing plenty of flavour and complexity throughout. This is a fun one to put on a blind tasting too, as there won't be many people who can guess where it's from!