Black Mountain unveils sea-matured whisky

French whisky bottler Black Mountain has released 460 bottles of an experimental expression that has been matured at sea.

The whisky, called Spirit of the Sea – Voyage #1, is the bottling of a 280-litre cask that once contained French brandy. The cask travelled on board a merchant ship The Grayhound for six month between the French and British coasts. The cask then returned to its warehouse in south-western France where it continued maturing for 12 months. The liquid inside has now been bottled at 42.7% abv. "The effect of nature and climate on maturing whisky is fascinating and unexpected; you cannot predict how the whisky is going to turn. In fact, it could have been a total disaster," said Cédric Leprette, co-founder of Black Mountain. “But it’s also this unknown factor that makes this kind of experiment very exciting. “With Black Mountain, we're trying to bring something more, it's not only about importing and bottling whisky – it's about going the extra mile and bottle something interesting.” Black Mountain is currently conducting a ‘larger’ sea-maturation experiment. Spirit of the Sea is now available at an RRP of €79.00 (US$92.00).