Peaty, smoky malt with hints of fruitiness; a balanced
whisky with great depth and complexity
Wine Enthusiast 90 points - An intensely smoky initial bouquet which then becomes creamy, concentrated, citrusy, mash-like, and very malty. At palate entry heavily smoked flavors of charred barley and kippers appear; at midpalate the taste profile turns sweet, bonfire-like, and strikingly like smoky green tea and honey. Ends sweet, moderately smoky, ash-like, and even caramel-like. An elegant malt despite its moniker.
— P.P. (12/31/2004) — 90-95 (Jun 2006)
A whisky for lovers of complex, multi-layered peaty whiskies. What makes
it fit perfectly into the Compass Box house style is the balance of richness
and subtle sweetness that the casks of Speyside malt provide to the smokypeaty Islay and island malts. This is the great benefit of combining single
malts from different distilleries; we are not limited to the produce of one
distillery. Like a winemaker blending grape varieties, we can create layers of
complexity. For recent batches, we have introduced even more complexity by
adding some south shore Islay malt and island malt to enhance the peatiness
and earthiness. As with all our whiskies, several months of marrying before
bottling allow the flavours of each of the whiskies to knit together.
| Technical notes |
| Distillery Sourcing
Made from a marriage of an Islay South shore malt,
a peated malt, a peated malt from the Isle of Mull
and a smoky Speyside malt.
Wood
Refill American oak.
Bottling Details
Bottled at 46%. Not chill filtered. Natural colour. |
| Food pairing |
| A fantastic late-night digestif whisky. Excellent with
blue vein cheeses. |
