After sharing my tasting notes on The Pioneer (the first), The Challenger (the second) and The Messenger (the fourth), it is time for the third release from Box Distillery and their Early Days Collection: The Explorer.
This whisky consists both unpeated and peated whisky with an average ppm of 25 in the malt. The Explorer has been matured in a mix of first-fill bourbon casks and both new American, Hungarian and European Oak. You will find a listing of all the casks on their website. The outturn was 10549 bottles. The Explorer was watered down to 48,3 ABV. For those of you who have read all my articles of the Early Days Collection, you will find a funny ‘pattern’ regarding the ABV of these whiskies 😉
Box The Explorer is available in Norway at NOK 995.
Warm and fruity on the nose. A hint of peat and some oakiness. It smells a bit like hard fruit candy in a metallic box – nice childhood memories – for a while. Then it turns dry again, quite nutty. Dry on the palate. Nuts, black pepper and cardamom. Mmm…warm and quite rich with a touch of chili. I cannot really detect the peat. Very dry on the finish (at first). After the dryness it leaves the palate with an oily layer. It tastes like salty butter. A bit peaty in the end.
My score: 20 / 21 / 21 / 21 = 83
– Tone
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