Bimber Ex-Bourbon Cask Batch #3 English Whisky
I’m excited - another distillery outside of Scotland making a single malt with unequivocally local character. Following my recent review of Waterford Whisky’s Gaia 2.1, I couldn’t wait to try this as well.
Bimber is a fascinating story that incorporates using their own barley, fermenting slowly for a full week in wooden washbacks made at their own cooperage, direct-fire stills, and somehow elevating the whisky even further through highly selective barrel choices.
Like Waterford, Bimber leans into the farm-to-bottle model. Their farm in Hampshire, farmed by Fordham & Allen, grows two-row spring barley of the Concerto and Laureate varieties for Bimber’s distillation. These barley varietals are often used for brewing and distillation, as they have low protein content and plenty of available sugars and enzymes to break those sugars down.
Once harvested, the barley is floor malted for Bimber by Warminster Maltings, the oldest malting house in Britain (since 1855). The barley is “steeped” for 72 hours to start the germination process, where the germ starts to grow and the energy stored in the grain start to convert to available sugars thanks to enzymes. The malt is then dumped onto the floor for malting, a five-day process during which the malt is turned by hand every few hours to make sure germination continues and no molding takes place.
After the barley kernels are clearly germinating - a status called “green malt” since the green stalks have started to pop out of the kernel - the barley is kiln dried to stop the germination and prepare it for milling.
Milled grain is what is fermented by adding hot water and yeast to create a mash. The average fermentation/mashing time is around 3-4 days and depends on the grain involved, the yeast chosen, and the esters and congeners the brand wants the yeast to produce. Bimber uses a ridiculously long seven-day fermentation process. I say ridiculous not because it’s silly, but because nobody does it. Maybe a few go up to six days, but a full week is nearly unheard of.
Bimber admits on its site that such a long fermentation limits how much whisky they can produce - if all pre-distillate wort has to go through this process and you only have so many washbacks, you’re constrained by the volume you can ferment at once. This long, slow process gives the yeast days and days to convert the sugars in the wort, each day bringing new flavors into the mix. Yeast is the great flavor-maker before distillation. How long you let the yeast run and how much or how little you stress it through temperature changes all create different flavor compounds. Bimber uses a proprietary strain created specifically for them - a topic I will 100% ask about when I talk to them.
The wooden washbacks are worth noting, too. There was a time when wooden washbacks were the norm in whisky-making, with the favorites being oak and cypress. Oak is an obvious choice - if it works for barrels, it’ll work for washbacks - and the cypress was particularly prized as creating a favorable environment for lactobacillus to thrive. The latter is a common, healthy bacteria that makes yogurt sour/tart and is used in numerous applications. In whisky, certain levels of this “good” bacteria keeps out undesirable bacteria that could infect the open-topped fermentation vats. Oak also helps, but cypress is the best.
Unfortunately, cypress is now a protected species thanks to overuse. Only a few cypress washbacks still exist (in the US, go visit Michter’s Fort Nelson Distillery to see their cypress washbacks, built before cypress was protected and kept in pristine condition). American oak is a suitable alternative that’s readily available - so why don’t more distilleries use wooden washbacks?
Simple: it’s a variable. Sure, lactobacillus is one way to ensure a consistent mash profile and reduce bad bacteria, but it also requires monitoring. With cypress out of the picture, most distilleries making any significant volume (and most of the smaller ones, too) turned to inert, stainless steel washbacks, where the pH and bacterial environment can be monitored and controlled without concern for the wood.
Whether or not this makes a difference is a lesser-known whisky debate, though just as heated as any other. I do think it makes a difference, but I also understand the reality: stainless steel is cheaper, requires little maintenance, and lasts for decades. It’s an easy choice to make.
Anyway, back to Bimber. The wash is fermented to between 8-10% and fed into two copper pot stills named Doris and Astraeus. The stills are heated with direct fire rather than the more modern steam-heating method in which a coil is wound inside the still and fed steam to heat the contents. Direct fire is like putting the still on a gas stove - more powerful, but you must watch it carefully to make sure the solids in the pot still don’t start to burn. Plenty of pot still operators over the centuries have found how hard it is to 1) get the burnt taste out of a whisky and 2) clean burnt-on grain from the still.
The first distillation leads to a 33% ABV low wine which is fed into the second still for cuts. Bimber notes their heart cuts come to 72% ABV off the still, more than doubling the ABV. That high wine is then barreled and laid down in Bimber’s London warehouse. Bimber sources their barrels from American oak and sherry bodegas, but they also have an on-site cooperage to check casks and repair or re-char when needed, something few distilleries anywhere in the world have.
What comes from those barrels is nothing short of magical. Having tried this release as well as a number of single cask releases, I haven’t had a single Bimber expression that’s been less than very good, and most are great or excellent. The whisky has a unique character that’s clearly recognizable in the same way Amrut tastes different from Glenmorangie. Every step of the process has been considered and analyzed to maximize that flavor, and it’s impressive.
A London-based single malt distillery that’s less than a decade old and producing stunning whisky - we truly are in the new golden age of whisky.
Thank you to Glass Rev Imports for providing this sample with no constraints.
Bimber Ex-Bourbon Cask Batch #3 English Whisky: Specs
Classification: English Single Malt Whisky
Origin: Bimber Distillery
Mashbill: 100% Malted Barley
Proof: 113.2 (51.6% ABV)
Age: NAS
Batch: 03/2021, Bottle 2396
Location: London, England
Bimber Ex-Bourbon Cask Batch #3 English Whisky Price: $99.99
Bimber Ex-Bourbon Cask Batch #3 English Whisky Review: Tasting Notes
Eye: Yellow topaz. Thin rims, very slow droplets.
Nose: Vanilla pastry cream being made as you walk into a bakery. The malt is sweet and rich. Lemon buttercream and golden raisins brighten the nose without lessening the depth. The bourbon casks must have been fresh and wet for such a huge impact on the nose.
Palate: Malt character is front-and-center, the vanilla taking a backseat (an admittedly active one). Wood and proof spice spread from front to back on the tongue, a mix of red spice drops and cinnamon Red Hots. Mouthfeel feels heavier than it really is, like a whipped cream made with high milkfat (think the kind you get at the Cheesecake Factory that doesn’t melt). Pepper on the tip of my tongue cuts sharply through the richness with barrel char and tobacco right behind. Dutch process cocoa explodes under the tongue.
Finish: The unsweetened cocoa comes to the front and stays there, lacquering the whole palate as the cinnamon slowly dissipates on a long, gently fading finish.
Overall: There is at times more cask influence than malt character, though both are delicious and play well together when balanced. Vanilla, coconut, cream, pepper, and cocoa all cycle through - everything you’d expect to be there amped up a kick. Definitely makes me want to try more Bimber products.
Final Rating: 7.3
10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close
9 | Incredible | Extraordinary
8 | Excellent | Exceptional
7 | Great | Well above average
6 | Very Good | Better than average
5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary
4 | Has promise but needs work
1-3 | Let’s have a conversation
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