Port of Leith Pedro Ximenez, Sherry

The Leith Distillery needs barrels to mature its whisky in for the next few years and traditionally those most used are new oak barrels, for their honeyed, woody flavours plus used barrels from fortified wine producers, specifically sherry and port casks. But, it seemed a bit silly to go buying a load of empty casks for whisky that won’t be available for maybe another five or more years, so why not (thought the distillers of Leith) buy the barrles full? That way, they control perfectly the quality of the barrels that they’re getting, holding the sherry and port just a little bit longer to get those lovely woody flavours in the wine and to get those lovely winey flavours in the barrel. And what to do with the port and sherry when the barrels are emptied? Share it with us, obviously.

Produced for Port of Leith Distillery by Bodegas Baron in South West Spain, Pedro Ximénez (or PX) is the name of the grapes from which the sherry is made. After picking, the ripe fruit is laid out on mats and dried in the sun until the grapes are more like raisins, concentrating the falvours and sugars inside.

The grapes are then pressed and the resulting syrupy juice (or grape must) is fermented before maturation in a solera to produce a deep, sweet, christmas cake of a sherry, full of incredibly rich flavours of raisins, figs and prunes, with deep, beguiling aromas of coffee and chocolate on the nose. It’s perfect with cheese and deserts, as well as being a wine adored by cocktail makers around the world.  Try a slurp of this, rather than a sugar cube or syrup, in your old fashioned.

PX Old Fashioned

A teaspoon or two of Port of Leith Pedro Ximenez sherry, a dash or two of Angostura Bitters (or Angostura Orange Bitters), 60ml of grain whisky such as the Leith Table Whisky, a slice of orange and a proper Maraschino cherry, muddled together on the rocks.  Some people like to make a longer drink by adding a splash of soda.