Tasting three sister casks of Limburgse Whisky
You might have read my diary entry preceding today’s blog, which was a visit to the Veldman Distillery in the deep south of The Netherlands. Owner Willem Veldman releases only very sparsely onto the market, like three casks at a time. We are going to taste these sister casks next to each other and see if we can find some nuances! We taste them all at the same time, so you get the credentials all at once as well.
Limburgse Whisky 2022, Okshoof Edition # 12
First things first: Here we go! Cask 1 of this release produced 186 bottles after maturing in a bourbon cask for 264 days and and then 1160 days in a Merlot cask. Bottled 16 Match 2026. Cask 2 of this release produced 211 bottles after maturing in a bourbon cask for 320 days and 1020 days in Merlot. Bottled on 30 March 2026. Cask 3 of this release produced 186 bottles after maturing in a bourbon cask for 275 days and in Merlot for 976 days.
Upon Sipping: So, to distinguish, the second cask saw the most bourbon influence of the three, and the last one was bottled a good 100 days before the second oldest and even 200 days before the oldest of the three. These are the nuances we will look for.
Cask 1: A very nice nose full of red fruit, mostly strawberry jam, and hot rooibos tea. The farmy character of the Veldman new make spirit is hidden well under this fruit explosion. Taking a sip, the whisky remains fruity all the way, very full and lots of character. Nothing too rubbery or dry, as if often the case with wine maturation. Or perhaps, the finish has some dry elements that I hope to see better balanced in cask 2. Coming back to this glass after tasting the other two, the fruity element of this one is really strong. It balances out on repeated sipping and takes on more of the appearance of cask 2.
Cask 2: The nose on this release is more tranquil in appearance, with more balance between the subdued fruity notes and some more influence of the spirit. Some whiffs of smoke arise from the background, creating this image of a dusty farm in the summer sun.
The fruit elements are not only red specimens, but also some tropical hints of mango. To drink, this Limburgse whisky expression is a bit more austere, and comes close to Scottish siblings, which is a compliment. The rubbery dry character is stronger here, but adds complexity compared to cask 1, which was fruit-forward to the point of being one-dimensional. Returning to this glass after having tasted all of them, I must say this expression brings the best balance between whisky and the heavy influence of the wine.
Cask 3: Leans even more towards a farmy character. Still, the Merlot puts a signature on it. This is like dropping a bucket of strawberry ice cream in tractor tracks on a muddy driveway. Hints of cow fur or skin, whatever it is called. The taste suffers just a tad from having less time in the wood, as it feels clearly immature compared to cask 1 and 2. This creates a bitterness on the finish that does not really work for me.
Word to the Wise: Veldman has little choice to bring out his whisky at quite a young age, as the climate in his part of the Netherlands is warmer and makes the angels behave greedy. I enjoyed the Limburgse Whisky very much but there is also still room for improvement. If you would ask my humble opinion, I would look for the optimum balance between initial bourbon maturation and then the Merlot finish. Out of the samples tasted, this is best achieved in cask 2 and that one is my favourite. Cask 1 is fine too if you have a sweet tooth (and I do, so happy!). Cask 3 was still a bit too rough, but showed the potential of the other two already. In any case, if you can find any of the three bottles of this rare whisky, you are lucky!
Score: 83 points for cask 2, 82 points for cask 1, 79 points for cask 3..