My #whiskywednesday dram this week is Black Adder Black Snake Vat No.1 Fifth Venom. We had the pleasure of pouring this whisky for Stronghearts Whisky Club last weekend. This dram was so good I decided to kill the heal tonight and tell you all about it.
The folks at Black Adder are doing some pretty interesting things with the whiskies they acquire. Black Snake is from an undisclosed Distillery. The spirit is matured in ex-bourbon barrels. They then put 3 of those barrels into an Oloroso Sherry Butt and mature for another year. This Sherry Butt is treated like a mini-Solera cask in that they only bottle 2/3 of the the cask. They then add 2 more ex-bourbon barrels, of the same whisky, to the Vat. Each bottling is called a “Venom.” And the whisky gains overall age with each Venom.
Bottled at 60.7% ABV non-chill filtered and no colour added.
Colour: Harvest Gold
Nose: Butterscotch, Demerara Sugar, Chocolate Raisins, Vanilla Bean, Dark Fruit, Light Grassy notes in the back, Shortbread, A hint of Banana and Pecan
Palate: Pear Cobbler, More Dark Fruit, Cedar, Caramel, Honeydew melon.
Finish: Long, Mouth Drying, Malty, Honey and then Pepper.
Paired with Homemade Shortbread
This was a delicious whisky with a lot going on… Almost too much. I found some flavours were almost working against others. I look forward to trying different Vats and Venoms down the road. If you are curious and want to get your hands on some Black Adder expressions get yours @strathliquorstore in Victoria or @legacyliquorstore in Vancouver.
Rating 7.8 /10
Blue Collar
You make mention of Black Adder doing some pretty interesting things with the whisky they acquire, have you reviewed any of these Black Adders other products?
Nice blog by the way. I would love it if you could do something like your favourite whisky of the month, taste value, etc. I am always checking your blog when I am at the liquor store for a good whisky that I could try. I am a complete newbie to whisky tasting and would like to have some suggestions that I could quickly reference on my phone when I am staring at 30 or more whisky’s. Such a wide range of price points and options. Keep up the great work, cheers Mike.
Hey Mike… Thanks so much for your feedback! I haven’t had an opportunity to review any other Black Adder whiskies yet but I did get a chance to try a few at a recent tasting event I attended in Victoria. They like to do what’s called “Raw Cask” whiskies. They bottle the spirit straight out of the Cask with no filters. They end up with quite a bit of char from the cask in the bottles… Not sure if it adds anything to the flavour of the whisky but kind of novel in any case. I try to post a review of a whisky at least once a week and I like your idea of adding the price although price on whiskies can vary greatly from region to region…BC usually being the most expensive. I’m also starting to do YouTube video reviews too. So stay tuned for those.. If there is ever a whisky you would like me to review don’t hesitate to ask and I would be happy to try and get my hands on a bottle. Thanks again for following my blog! Cheers!