Review #719 - Andalusia Chocolate Malt - Scotch 4 Dummies Pick
Andalusia is a Texas distillery that focuses on the production of American single malts - their core range includes triple-distilled, peated, and mesquite-smoked single malt varieties, and they also produce unaged whisky and brandy. The distillery also produces more experimental batches of whisky, such as this Chocolate Malt single malt.
Chocolate malt is a variety of malted barley that has been more heavily roasted or dried than usual. Like most barley used in single malt production, these barley grains are soaked in water to begin the germination process; once the grains have begun to sprout, a process which produces key enzymes such as amylase, they are dried with warm air (or sometimes peat-smoke-infused or mesquite-smoked-infused air) to stop the germination process.
The differentiating step with chocolate malt is that, instead of drying the barley grain just long enough to half the malting process, the heating process continues for a longer period, which causes the barley to dry further, almost to the point of roasting it. The barley takes on a darker (chocolatey) color, and this cooking process is said to add flavors like chocolate and coffee to the eventual beer or whisky that is made from the chocolate malt.
This single cask of Andalusia Chocolate Malt whisky was picked by American YouTube channel 'Scotch 4 Dummies,' which has traditionally focused on Scotch whiskies; however, with the growth of American single malt as a category over the past few years, and the abundance of quality producers now here in the States, they have begun bottling single casks from prominent producers in the US. This single cask of Chocolate malt was aged for 2 and a half years before bottling in that hot Texas climate, and it's bottled at a cask strength of 53% ABV.
Andalusia Chocolate Malt - Scotch 4 Dummies Pick
USA - Single Malt
Price: USD 70 (2024)
Age Statement: 2 Years
Strength: 53% ABV
Cask Makeup: Char #3 new American oak cask
Details: Distilled 2021, bottled 2024
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 7 months; bottles at 90%, 70% (blind tasting), 50% (blind tasting), and 40% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Dripping with chocolate and coffee notes, as expected from the name. Cocoa powder, espresso beans, molasses, chocolate-covered cherries; there's a nice dark fruit side with raisin, too. Wood smoke or char brings a drying side, and we get hints of savory pepper, malt, and leather.
Palate: The mouthfeel is medium-thick; the start of the palate brings sweet and spicy flavors, from chocolate syrup to wood smoke, black pepper, malty grain, and savory barbecued oak. Dark chocolate, heavily-roasted coffee beans, coffee cake... fruit returns with raisins and some orange liqueur. There's a strong 'roasty' side to this from the malt.
Finish: Roasty and malty, still full of chocolate syrup, coffee, and peppery oak. The malty side brings a nice vanilla note and lighter flavors of hay and tannins; still, dark chocolate and wood smoke linger in the aftertaste, keeping things relatively dry. It's a medium-long finish.
Final Note: This Andalusia single malt stayed true to its name: the chocolate malt in the mashbill add strong notes of chocolate and coffee, more than we've seen in almost any other single malt. It's a bit reminiscent of Glenmorangie's Signet in that regard, but with some more youthful notes and more of a drying complexion as opposed to sweet. Lots of dessert flavors and malt, too, and we enjoyed the subtle savory flavors and dark fruits - this has a lot going on, amazing complexity for the age.
Value here is very good too; this single cask was available for $70, which is very fair for such a unique flavor profile. At the higher strength, this delivered very good flavor density as well - a great American single malt, one of our favorites so far.
Our Rating: 7.6 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 7.28
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other recent American single malt reviews:
Review #668 - Westland Moscatel Finish Single Cask - r/Bourbon Pick
Review #645 - Westland Solum Edition 2
Review #607 - Westward Milestone Edition No. 1
Review #603 - Old Line Single Barrel Single Malt - Quarterdeck Whiskey Club Pick
Review #583 - Stranahan's Single Barrel Cask Strength - Barrel 15-2146
