Strathenry 6yo - Inchdairnie
Fragrant Drops Elevenses Release, 2025 | 50% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A perfect example of whisky’s changes in recent years
Unavoidable Changes
They tend to arrive unannounced and in groups, and they can be terrifying. I’ve been relatively inactive in the whiskysphere these past weeks (okay, months), I’ll share why.
In early May, Mrs Fife and I received a call from our landlady. She had made the decision to sell the flat we lived in, in order to finance a bigger house in Switzerland. Since we like to do our part to help people in need, we agreed - read: we were forced - to move before the end of June. We had stayed there for six years and, in an instant, we had to figure out another place to live in one of the most densely populated urban areas in the world. With its skyrocketing real estate value, that’s easier said than done.
Even more stressful, I’ve also decided to leave the safety of employment. I was originally planning on leaving the shop I’ve worked in for the past five years next September, but administrative shenanigans accelerated everything. I am currently getting everything ready to begin my new activity, a ‘winemaker’s agent’, or independent commercial rep for several wineries if you will. I’ll now be selling wine to restaurants, bottle shops and wine bars. The prospect is genuinely thrilling, but equally terrifying, as there will be no fixed income coming to my bank account.
As a consequence of all of this, I’ve felt properly stressed for the past few weeks. We did find a new apartment, and miraculously, the rent pretty much matches what we used to pay for the previous six years, for a flat both (very) slightly bigger and newer. We even have a balcony now.
Mrs Fife and I have currently taken residence in one of the apartment complexes that was built in a Northern Parisian suburb to host the athletes that came for the 2024 Olympics. I’d like to think that local god Antoine Dupont is responsible for the dent in our kitchen tiling, when he accidentally dropped his gold medal when making coffee.
But an ordeal never comes alone, and the one, big drawback coming with this apartment, was that there was no kitchen. So, with the help of our beloved respective fathers, we built a kitchen from the ground up, at our expense. That took around a month and a half. Screw Ikea. But at the same time, thank god for Ikea.
With finding a new place to live came the madness of moving everything we owned, including the 100+ bottles of spirits that I’ve accumulated over the past few years. Man, how moving places sucks! The packing seems to never progress. I cannot count the amount of wine boxes I brought back home from work to try and fit all of our accumulated possessions. Towards the end, there were boxes that were identified as just ‘stuff’, because I couldn’t be arsed to try and find a more appropriate descriptor for the contents.
The whiskies were packed quite soon, and as such there was a period of about a month when I didn’t have a single drop of amber happiness. They were among the first boxes opened on moving day, and I must admit I had some trouble trying to remember how they were all organised on the shelf.
The moving itself was relatively smooth, except for one single box that was dropped, by yours truly. You know it couldn’t have been the box full of clothes though. Fortunately it wasn’t a precious bottle, but a small box containing my Spiegelau stemmed whisky glasses. Four tragically died at the scene, but two were rescued from the wreck. I still have a few copitas, but I’ll need to steal some more at Whisky Live in September.
Anyway, as we slowly settle in, I feel the whisky itch once more. To be fair, I was looking forward to writing another review, as I think this is the longest between two Ainsley articles. Thankfully the Dramface pool of writers is extensive and most, if not all, are more talented than I am, so I’m sure not one of you dear readers even noticed I was absent.
So here I am, finally ready to write about whisky again, when the worst heatwave since 2003 strikes France. The thermometer breached 40°C yesterday and, as I type this, I’ve never felt this hot and sweaty and sticky in my entire life. I can tell you, the world is not a bloody oyster, it’s a sauna. Paris currently feels like entering a car which has been basking in the Spanish sun and finding out the AC has died. Needless to say, I’ve been craving beer and ice cream more than cask strength whisky these past few weeks.
This has to stop. I’ll get back on the whisky train, even if I have to run after it and jump on while moving, spaghetti western style - I’ll get back on.
Review
Strathenry (Inchdairnie) 2018 6yo, ‘Tropical Fruit Salad’, Elevenses, Keeble Cask Co., unpeated, first-fill ex-bourbon, 589 bottles, non chill-filtered, natural colour, 46% ABV
£45 now sold out
Strathenry is one of the many varieties of malts made at the flexible Inchdairnie Distillery. They sell RyeLaw and KinGlassie as their own brands but thus far Strathenry, which is by far the most produced at the facility, has been a trade name and is intended for blending purposes.
I bought this one during my first visit to the Independent Spirits Festival, back in March 2025, alongside a previously reviewed Holyrood single cask. I only opened this unpeated Inchdairnie single malt a few days ago though. I wanted a whisky that exemplified changes; a new beginning. Popping the cork (or lid, rather) on a sealed bottle felt fitting, as much as tasting a young whisky from a young distillery.
I remember buying this bottle on the back of tasting it at the festival and liking it very much, due to its summery brightness. My kind of dram, especially these days when the edge of my balcony is hot enough to fry eggs.
This whisky is part of the now one year old series called ‘Elevenses’, featuring mostly bright and fruity ‘breakfast’ whiskies. It was bottled by Rachel and George, more famously known for their Fragrant Drops bottling series.
The elevenses series is also meant to be more obtainable, consisting of small batches of malt bottled at 50% and sold around the £45-50 mark. This is yet another change in the independent bottlers panorama we’re witnessing: the emergence of quality, small batch whiskies, made by geeks for geeks, and sold at very competitive price points.
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A prefect example of whisky’s changes in recent years
Nose
Well, it’s bright and fruity! Tropical even: papaya, fresh mango. A bit of almond paste. Fermentary. Fruity ale, like a saison, but with modern hops. Dusty malt. Orange oils and lemon pith. Quite bready as well, with fresh baguette. Peppermint and eucalyptus.
With water: it’s a wee bit more lemony and herbal. Celery stalks, fennel. Paraffin.
Palate
Clean, fresh and lively. The ‘Tropical Fruit Salad’ moniker on the label isn’t a lie. Juicy mangoes in syrup, pineapple juice. It’s not that complex on the palate, but it’s mighty pleasant and goes down a treat. It does turn a bit prickly hot after a while though.
With water: Feels more rounded and slightly sweeter; tamed youth, if you will. The finish is indeed a bit better as well.
The Dregs
Changes.
We all have to embrace them, whether they are our choices or they are forced upon us. If you’d asked me sometime in the past what dram from my collection I would want to drink first after a forced whisky hiatus more than a month long, I probably wouldn’t have suggested this one.
Yet, it fits the moment perfectly. Inchdairnie, although they have an… interesting pricing policy for their official releases, are making great whisky, which is slowly coming of age, not unlike a lot of the distilleries we still call the new cats. The whisky landscape is changing and, in my opinion, it’s mostly for the better.
Here’s to changes, and to the certainty they will eventually be for the better.
For today’s musical pairing, I could’ve gone the easy route with Black Sabbath, David Bowie or Yes, but I’ll be a bit cheeky: let’s play Every Day is Exactly the Same, by one of my favourite bands: Nine Inch Nails.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. AF
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