Filey Bay Double Oak #1, Special Release, is a distinctive and unusual single malt, created by maturing their single malt whisky in both ex-bourbon and virgin oak casks. The virgin oak brings fruity and spicy notes, whilst the ex-bourbon casks balance this with vanilla and toffee flavours. The selection process started with sampling a cross-section of first-fill ex-bourbon casks laid down in the winter of 2017-2018. From a potential 150 casks, only a handful was selected, all highlighting key characteristics that we felt would work well with the new oak casks. With such new and active oak, the casks needed sampling, nosing and tasting frequently to ensure balance was maintained in the overall whisky.