Three Ships 6 yo vs James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Whisky

Today I look at a fun side by side comparison; the Three Ships 6 yo vs James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo whisky. During this past year or two, there were two 6 year old whiskies released by the James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington.

The first one was the Checkers Private Barrel Co James Sedgwick Distillery 6 year old and the second was That Boutique-y Whisky Company Three Ships 6 year old whisky. Both special releases created by Andy Watts, South Africa’s Master Distiller extraordinaire.

And what can be more fun than to have a blind side by side tasting of these two proudly South African releases. The Three Ships 6 yo vs James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo whisky. Or perhaps TBWC vs Private Barrel Co. A Fino Cask versus a PX Cask. Regardless of how you want to look at it, I did it over the weekend and boy was it interesting.

Private Barrel Co. James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Whisky

This is the first South African whisky to join the exclusive Private Barrel Co. collection of whiskies from Checkers. It is a single malt whisky from the award-winning James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington.

The James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo whisky is lightly peated and spent its first 3 years in older American Oak, followed by 3 years in a seasoned Fino Cask. Only 677 bottles of the Private Barrel Co. James Sedgwick Distillery 6 year old Fino Cask was released.

All the bottles carry the signature of master distiller Andy Watts. It is the highest ABV to ever come out of the James Sedgwick Distillery. I have bottle 112/677.

That Boutique-y Whisky Company Three Ships 6 yo Whisky

The first independent Three Ships bottling ever released. The Checkers bottling referred to the James Sedgwick Distillery. This TBWC bottling mentions both the James Sedgwick Distillery and Three Ships.

That Boutique-y Whisky Company (TBWC) is an independent whisky bottler that bottle a considerable variety of distilleries as limited-edition releases. They bottle single edition malts, grains and bourbons from all over the world.

This release is batch one and it was matured in American oak and finished in PX. Only 1 150 bottles were produced. The artwork on the label depicts Master Distiller, Andy Watts, filling a Three Ships whisky cask with whisky.

The barrel in question is marked with PX. In one hand, he carries the filling nozzle, and in the other, he’s hammering the bung into the cask with a Derbyshire Club cricket bat.

Three Ships 6 yo vs James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Whisky

	James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo	Three Ships 6 yo
ABV	54.6%	53.7%
Region	South African Whisky	South African Whisky
Colour	Deep mahogany	Dark gold
Cask Type	Fino Sherry Cask	PX Sherry Casks
Nose	A basket of fresh fruit.  Hints of nuts and fruits of the forest. Spices floating in the background. Hints of creme brûlée with the faintest hint of cinnamon.	Christmas cake sweetness with berry jam, red plums, raisins and oak. Hints of cinnamon, vanilla and cloves.  Bits of old leather and polished wood mixed with sweetness and malt.
Palate	The palate is spicier than the nose suggests.  Fruity sweetness with oak, pepper, cinnamon and bit of vanilla. A suggestion of lightly toasted macadamia nuts. Water releases more of the soft sherry sweetness.	Black pepper and alcohol-soaked cherries, fruity sweetness and fresh wood shavings.  Then more pepper and lemon with some alcohol heat. The red plumbs and fruity notes are mixed with hints of earthy moss and wet forests.
Finish	Notes of light pepper and fruity berries with a nutty taste.	Dry wood and pepper with bits of fruity sweetness.
My Rating	Excellent	Very Good
Comments	Only 677 bottles released It’s chewy and bold.	Only 1150 bottles released. It needs to breathe a bit and a few drops of water to bring the complexity forward.

WOW! How different these two releases are. According to Andy, the base malt for both these releases was put into casks at close to the same time. But it is only when you compare them side by side that you see the impact of the different sherry casks on these releases.

Both of these James Sedgwick distillery bottlings are big and bold and spicy. They are both heavy drinking and certainly not for the novice whisky drinker. Both can do with a few minutes of standing to let them open up and need a few drops of water to release the complexity.

The Private Barrel Company James Sedgwick Fino Cask release is slightly sweeter and fruitier with hints of nuts. The finish is somewhat longer, and the water cuts through the spiciness and alcohol heat. The sherry comes through more on the Fino Cask compared to the PX Cask.

The TBWC Three Ships 6 year old PX Cask whisky has more peppery spices, and oak and John described it as licking the top of a pepper grinder. The Christmas pudding and alcohol-soaked fruit from the nose do not carry through onto the palate. Water brings out more sweet notes, but the sherry sweetness stands behind the spiciness of the oak and the lemon pepper.

We did the tasting blind, and both our favourite from these two was the Private Barrel Co Fino Cask. The sweetness vs spices balance was better, and we enjoyed it more.

Header photos courtesy of Three Ships whisky.