Sherry vs. Sherry & Port Octaves | 50% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Excellent Islay malts for the price
Unobtrusively advertised and under the radar single malts
My drinking and purchasing habits have been all over the place recently. I’ve been enjoying sherried drams when it’s hot out, ex-bourbon when it’s colder in the evening, more blended scotches and malts and peated whiskies during the summer when I usually reach for unpeated.
It’s been a wild summer for me, both at work and on the home front and enjoying whiskies outside of my typical drinking routines has let me appreciate different facets of whisky. That’s where this pair of North Star Chaos comes in.
Peated and sherried during the summer months are my jam this year. Maybe it’s because of the combination of hot and dry weather, a longer summer than normal and lengthy backyard hangouts with friends that’s prompted this deviation from my norm. Either way, I’m not complaining.
For me, North Star has yet to turn out a complete dud. Across many distilleries, single malts and blends, I’ve yet to be totally disappointed. I do find some of their recent “Series” single malts have been heavy on sherry cask usage, but sherry sells. So my little gripes about including ex-bourbon releases in the mix might fall by the wayside. At least their casks are always clean so when the sherry bug bites, North Star are always an easy option to reach for.
The Chaos series has had three batches in 2019, 2020, and 2021, with the first two composed entirely of Caol Ila, while the final batch was relegated to a mysterious “Islay single malt”.
Back to the headline: are these labels unobtrusive? Not exactly. The reflective print ensures a modicum of shelf presence despite the stumpy and plain bottle shape. The word “chaos” doesn’t mean much within the whisky realm and, short of Jeff Goldblum’s description of the theorem that bears its name before the onslaught of genetically modified dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, it’s a descriptive word that’s casually tossed about.
If someone asked what word could be used to describe whisky, it wouldn’t be chaos. I might describe some rougher new-make spirits as chaotic in nature, but those are without the benefit of time. Are these whiskies bottled chaos? I find these two to be delectable and refined and quite the opposite of chaos.
The labels don’t shout Caol Ila, they don’t overemphasise the Islay whisky, nor do they flash the cask usage. It’s almost tailored to those familiar with North Star’s products. And if you are, then I guess label design is secondary as you’ll have a good idea of the quality within.
Review 1/2
North Star Chaos Batch 2, 1500 bottles, bottled in 2020, 50% ABV
£40 at auction, plus fees, paid $125 CAD (£74) landed.
According to North Star’s website, the Caol Ila used here was matured in a mixture of Spanish and American oak, with two oloroso sherry butts from 2006 & 2009 vatted together, with a 2009 single refill hogshead finished inoOloroso for an unspecified length of time. Given the 2020 bottling date, the Caol Ila ranged from 11-14 years.
Score: 6/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Quality Caol Ila with a peppery bite
Nose
Classic and clean peat & sherry combo. Smoked brown sugar marinated salmon, glazed walnuts, pralines and dates. The peat comes across as a dry peat and I find a touch of underlying earthiness immediately after pouring. This one evolves more in the glass with time compared to Batch 3. If you’ve got the patience you’ll be rewarded with a sticky concoction of caramel and orange zest that replaces the slight earthiness.
Palate
Black pepper, brown sugar, dates, slightly wet peat but it’s very much in the background compared to the black pepper. It has a nice syrupy mouthfeel.
The Dregs
I find the black pepper to be slightly distracting causing me to drop this to a 6/10 score.
Score: 6/10 BB
Review 2/2
North Star Chaos Batch 3, 1400 bottles, bottled in 2021, 50% ABV
~£50 at release, now sold out. Paid $95 CAD (£55) landed.
According to North Star’s website, the unspecified distillery here consists of four ruby port octaves, one refill hogshead and one butt, presumably sherry. We don’t have ages this time, but I’d wager it’s in the same ballpark as Batch 2.
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Port and peat combo that works well
Nose
Brighter and more citrusy than Batch 2. Dry peat smoke, lemon zest and grilled salty shrimp on the barbecue. There’s a honey sweetness and the faintest hint of raspberries.
The nose is soft and gentle hiding the 50%ABV well. If you were to nose this blind, it would smell much closer to an ex-bourbon maturation than the concoction of fortified wine casks used. The colour suggests this as well.
Palate
Ditto from the nose. The dry peat smoke anchors the lemon-zested grilled shrimp. There’s a delicious pure sweetness similar to icing or powdered sugar. The finish is slightly drying with a light amount of black pepper and mild tannins, before a mild burst of delicious red berry sweetness and umami-like notes.
The Dregs
My notes seem simple enough for this one but it’s the clean, high-quality and highly moreish nature that makes me rank this quite high. Plus, it’s one of the few port-influenced peated whiskies that just works very well together. Perhaps it’s because of the varying casks used that it manages to tie the phenolics together with port, or the port octaves were judiciously monitored before bottling to ensure the port wasn’t overdone.
If I look at it from a volumetric perspective and assuming no angels share loss, the port-matured whisky constitutes around 20-25% of the final volume.
Port-matured whiskies generally rank quite high for me as I’m not a massive raisin fan from some of the over-cooked sherried whiskies. However, I’ve yet to really connect with a port & peat combination before this. The fact the port influence is gentle gives me hope that more distilleries, whisky-makers, or independent bottlers can accentuate a release with a gentle touch of port.
Score: 7/10 BB
The Final Dregs
Enjoying these side by side I can tell there are many similarities from the underlying spirit. Perhaps North Star was forbidden from using the distillery name in Batch 3 but they are very similar and delicious.
Batch 3 comes across as more integrated and less peppery making for an easier drinking experience. I prefer the more syrupy mouthfeel of Batch 2 compared to the more standard mouthfeel of Batch 3.
I was enjoying Batch 3 so much that when Batch 2 became available on an auction, I had to jump at the chance to have a second bottle in the trilogy, especially with the low hammer price in today’s crazed whisky prices.
I was slightly disappointed by Batch 2 because the bar was set high over the past year I’ve spent with Batch 3. Once I recalibrated and regained my objectivity, the overall quality of the whisky was evident despite the black pepper slightly obscuring some facets. If you like a solid peppery bite, I’m sure Batch 2 will be more of your cup of tea.
Batch 2 originally sold for £40 - the same price I paid at auction three years later. Just goes to show that we should be opening our bottles and enjoying them as it’s not guaranteed that prices will increase with time on the secondary market.
Given the hiatus from bottling another Chaos since 2021, I wonder if North Star is sitting on another batch of Caol Ila or they’ve shifted their stocks to different product lines? Regardless, I wouldn’t mind another quality peated option in the market at a reasonable price like these were. Sadly, £80-£100+ young Caol Ila from indies is upon us with no indication of reversing direction back to the realm of sanity.
I’ll be crossing my fingers that Ian and the team at North Star revive the Chaos with some quality and affordable peated releases.
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. BB
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