May 2008
The Twenty First Edition of "A Whiff of Peat Smoke...." , Why ? because i can !
It's Feis Ile Month , THE Whisky Festival......
At last our Committee bottlings have arrived ! So to the tasting.....
Tasting Notes (Ours !)
Colour Polished Copper
Nose Sweet and Earthy at first , then the peat comes through . Dark Fruits ( Blueberries , Blackberries) and Dark Chocolate ,a gentle Smokiness , Makes the hairs up your nose tingle .
Taste Very oily , loads of Chocolate , a smooth peatiness with a touch of pepper , very large mouthfeel , Chocolate seems to be the dominating force , luckily it doesn't cover the peatiness. This is a very complex malt , on the second tasting i got Mint Humbugs and on the next tasting i got Cinder Toffee and 1970's Ardbeg Iodine !
Finish Long , Chewy , peaty , Dark Chocolate , Cocoa . after a while the finish gets Creamy as well .
Comments Wasn't exactly what i was expecting from the Distillery tasting notes , it's an oily dram , fantastic mouth coating but what ever casks they have put in here don't hide the distillery characteristics , in fact it seems to emphasise the Chocolate Character ,I only get the Dark fruit from the nose , can't get any on the palate , A very balanced Ardbeg if slightly different to the norm but still an Ardbeg !
2nd Edit ! After having a third glass this whisky is definitely a bit of an enigma , after getting Mint Humbugs and the smell when getting down to the bottom of the glass of embers of a heavily peated fire , I'm now finding Cinder Toffee and 1970's Ardbeg Iodine ! If you have any friends who say Ardbeg is one dimensional don't give them any of the Corryvreckan ! It would be a waste !!! I think this is one of the most complex Ardbegs i've had ! I love that about Ardbeg , finding something different in every Glass ! Class Act !!!!
It's not very often that a Non-Islay gets onto these pages but there's always plenty of room for Raymonds bottlings ! Here's a couple of recently released Single Sherry Casks.....
Cask No. - 2615 , Bottle No. - 341 0f 550
Date Distilled - 15th July 1992 , Date Bottled - 28th February 2008
Age - 15yo , ABV - 55%
Colour - Amber
Nose - The typical "Christmas Cake" in the glass , spices , Dried fruit but with the lowland Grassy-ness as well .
Palate - A good balance on the palate between the spirit and the Sherry (not overly sherried) , even a touch of orange. Very fresh on the palate as well .
Finish - Long and liquid Christmas cake ! It's an often over used expression but this one is , the cake , dried fruit , spices , glace cherries !
Comments - I'm not usually a fan of Sherry casked whisky , it takes an exceptional cask to make me take note . This must have been a very good cask as there are no bad notes , the balance is fantastic , you can still detect the lowland freshness / Grass meadows .
Cask No. - 2617 , Bottle No. - 103 of 317
Date Distilled - 15th July 1992 , Date Bottled - 28th January 2008
Age - 15yo , ABV - 55%
Colour - Amber
Nose - Not as pronounced as the previous cask but still dried fruit , spices etc .
Palate - Again not overly sherried , still a good balance between the cask and spirit , sherry and the lowland spirit in Harmony .
Finish - The finish on this one seems drier , still as long but more sherried .
Comments - the 26xx's must have been a good set of casks , this one again isn't overly sherried just a good balance but the first one seems to have a more pronounced feel to it , both are worth exploring but the 2615 just nudges it !
2615 is available from the Distillery Online Shop and Royal Mile whiskies , 2617 is available from Loch Fyne Whiskies
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