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Category Archives: Peat

Chorlton – Ardmore 12 year 60.7%

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After years, I was back in my hometown of Winnipeg for my birthday. Unless I’m mistaken it would have been 21 years since I last celebrated in Canada – a fine whisky age!

Which brings me to this particular Chorlton… Knowing that I would be joining The Cabinet for an evening of whiskies the day after my birthday, I decided to bring two whiskies this time. One for the coastal peaty lads (Staoisha) and one just because it piqued my curiosity.

And naturally, as there were no rules about only bringing closed bottles, I decided to open this the night before and share with my Aunt and Uncle who have their own whisky-tasting group in Fort Francis, together with friends who enjoy a good dram or two. It was a marvelously malty and merry way to celebrate together after years!

And why did this particularly Ardmore grab my attention? It was matured in a refill barrique that (so David was told) originally held sherry. And turned out to be a bit leaky… leading to a concentrated combination of sherry and peat. Over the years, I’ve had a few Ardmores, mostly from independent bottlers, and find they range from gentle balanced peat to more powerful stuff!

I didn’t take tasting notes on my birthday but recall most of the reactions tended towards “tasty stuff!” And quite a serious dent was made in the bottle… sorry lads!

Ardmore 12 year (2022) 60.7% 196 Bottles

  • Nose – Mmmmm… a lovely dark coffee aroma, some leather… later joined by smoked meats and maple. Yum! Definitely a “sniffing” dram – one where the warm sweet peat aromas always rewarded
  • Palate – Quite dry at first, it rolled around the palate with rich flavours, pepper and peat, more smoked meat and sweet chocolate, gorgeous, rich, and rewarding
  • Finish – Lingers
  • Water – Oh lovely stuff, rounds out

For some, it was perfect “as is” with the intense elements needing no dilution. For others, a splash of water opened it up, bringing out the fruity side, softening and rounding the approach.

For me, the peat was a bit “peek-a-boo” in character. At times it was quite pronounced – particularly on the palate. And then wait a bit to find that sweet led the way with only a hint of peat.

Put simply – this Ardmore was simply delicious! It was one indulgent dram. Best enjoyed slowly, take a sip, savour the aromas in the glass, and chat some more before returning to the glass. I probably could have spent the entire evening just with this one!

Most importantly, I was so happy to be able to share this Chorlton in Winnipeg!

And what does David have to say?

The nose is a balance of sweet, savoury and smoky. Honey-roast ham, sweet tobacco, hazelnut nougat and maybe a hint of a wee kipper. In the background there are touches of dark chocolate and coffee, and some slightly waxy and medicinal bits and bobs (coal tar, for sure). Adding water makes everything softer, with this almost bubblegum fruitiness popping up, something that I’ve found in a few Ardmores (possible it’s just me!).

The palate is more peaty than you’d expect from the nose, with a thick mouthfeel. Salt and pepper at first, then honey on salted-buttered toast, smoked rye, dark chocolate and orange, and liquorice root.

Really characterful stuff, this, with the cask adding just enough richness and sweetness to round everything off nicely. Annoyingly we only got 196 bottles from this cask at 60.7%, but they’re still available here for a reasonable £69.50 each.

And no David, you were not alone in finding the bubble gum fruitiness with water!

Whilst released by Chorlton as part of David’s La Nouvelle Vague in December 2022, I waited until it became available via WhiskyBase in Europe. Which meant I purchased it in July 2023 for Eur 73 plus tax + shipping. In my books – this is quite reasonable for such a rare and interesting whisky!

What about other Ardmore experiences?

And here are a few more Chorlton La Nouvelle Vague series:

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The Cabinet “Alt Islay” Evening

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Winnipeg is where I grew up. It is also where I was first introduced to whisky. So it is fitting that in my wintery November trip home, I took some time out to enjoy a dram or two with Winnipeg whisky aficionados – aka having a small guest appearance at The Cabinet.

Whilst the lads normally sample 3 to 4 whiskies, I kind of derailed that plan by bringing three! I also disrupted the theme by bringing a lightly peated Highland into the mix of Islays – however, the Ardmore was just too special and simply had to be shared!

What did we try?

Waiting in the wings was an open Laphroig, however, we were clearly not up for the challenge of a 6th whisky! Which is a good thing – as moderation in malts is best.

Over the course of two hours, we made our way through the five whiskies and cheese, giant grapes, and taco chips. The conversation flowed with tales of travel adventures, film, and fiction, and as the whisky glasses clinked, time slipped away in the sheer enjoyment of a good dram or two with fellow appreciators.

And just like that, our wintery Winnipeg evening over whisky was over. Thanks again for the hospitality!

PS – Check out The Cabinet‘s take on our evening together here: Alt Islay. Thanks again gents!

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A dash of Islay – Bunnahabhain 10 year + Staoisha 5 year

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My explorations from a 2019 Whisky advent calendar are picking up pace! Each dram from this calendar was from a single cask, each unique, one-of-a-kind. This time I picked a pair of Bunnahabhains from Islay.

I decided to begin with the Bunnahabhain 10 year – anticipating that it would be without peat followed by the Staoisha 5 year. Named after Loch Staoisha on the Isle of Islay, when bottled as Staoisha, it is a signal that there is peat added to the mix.

Bunnahabhain 10 Year Old 2008 (cask 12663) 48% (Clan Denny, Douglas Laing)

  • Nose – That typically sweet, sour, and saline quality that greets you with most Bunnas! Alongside the fresh sea breeze comes sweet cake, a drizzle of honey, and a faintly nutty undertone with vanilla
  • Palate – Gentle and approachable, light spice joins tinned pineapples and more of that salt – quite pronounced
  • Finish – Continues with the sweet, spicy, and salty character…

A promising start and time to shift to the next expression…

Staoisha 5 Year Old 2013 (cask 940) 59.3% (The Single Cask) 258 Bottles

  • Nose – Now there is the peat! Smokey, fruity – especially the pineapple – which transforms from tinned to grilled – yum! Some bananas there too, opening into a medley of stewed fruits. Return to the nose again to discover that peat, sweet, with cinnamon, and spice. Also with a health dash of salt. Lovely!
  • Palate – Initially a mild bonfire of spice and peat that swiftly gentled. It was delicious – like warm sweet bread.
  • Finish – Cinnamon spice

There is no mistaking the peat in this one. It was really rather fabulous – a warm embrace.

I’m no stranger to this distillery… here is a sampling of other Bunnahabhain‘s sampled over the years…. many of which have age statements:

And a few more “modern” expressions without an age statement:

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More Minis – Nc’Nean, Tipperary, Gulliver’s 47

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Continuing my wee whisky mini explorations, I turned to a combination of two different sets… mixing up countries and styles!

For Nc’Nean, this mini came after I’d already purchased a full bottle with thoughts to bring it back to Mumbai for the Whisky Ladies. I knew it would be young but had been impressed with meeting the women leading the way with this fresh new independent distillery – committed to sustainable production, carbon-neutral, using recycled glass for the bottles, and most importantly passionate about crafting a fine dram in harmony with our planet.

Nc’Nean Single Scottish Malt Batch 7, 46%

  • Colour – Light gold
  • Nose – How delightfully fresh, fresh barley, light orange citrus
  • Palate – Initially prickly then gentled, quite young and active, some ginger, tinned pineapple, honey sweetness with something a bit rustic, tannins belying a wine cask influence? If yes, it was subtle and balanced
  • Finish – Waxy, a touch bitter like roasted nuts, light spice, a touch of orange oil

The challenge with tasting minis is that sometimes it simply isn’t enough! I was glad that I have a bottle to explore another time at leisure with friends.

I then shifted gears from Scotland to the Emerald Isles…

Tipperary 8 year Red Wine Cask Finish, Cask RC00117, 59.5%

  • Colour – What colour! A bright ruby
  • Nose – Bold blackberries, spice
  • Palate – Brash, a bit harsh and spicy, with some strong oak undertones, tannins and juicy red berries, like chewy red gummy bears
  • Finish – Sweet and tart at the same time, oak spice chasing

If Nc’Nean had a subtle hand, here there was no mistaking the use of a red wine cask with the Tipperary. So heavy, I wondered if it could have been finished in a decidedly “wet” cask leaving some wine behind? There is nothing shy about this whisky!

Whilst the Irish distillery is undisclosed, the folks at Tipperary have started their own distillery and in time will be putting out their own whisky. In the interim, this bottling of another is retailing for Eur 68.

And then on to a third country – England – with a lightly peated dram from The English Whisky Company:

Gulliver’s 47 Single English Malt 47%

  • Colour – Pale white gold, nearly translucent
  • Nose – Fresh sea breeze and smoke, angel food cake, citrus, layers of soft peat
  • Palate – Delightful! Gentle sweet peat, apples, buttery, lovely malty, most
  • Finish – Sweet tobacco leaf, lingering cinnamon

I really enjoyed this one – rolling around the palate – the peat was subtle yet satisfying. A rather nice dram.

What more do we know? It was aged in bourbon casks from Jim Bean, with the brand inspired by Samuel Gulliver an explorer who brought wines, spirits and liqueurs from around the world back to 18th century Britain. You can find this for Eur 60.

What fun to mix and match tasting from two new distilleries and one brand with a distillery to be!

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Paris Whisky Live 2022 – Lagg Masterclass

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I’ve made no secret of my love affair with Arran whiskies – cemented by time spent on the Island visiting both the Lochranza and Lagg Distillery. So at Paris Whisky Live, I jumped on the opportunity to explore further…

Our guide was Mariella Romano, who joined the group in 2019, and the focus of the Masterclass was to introduce the new expressions from their Lowland Lagg Distillery.

So what did we try? A trio of 1st releases with:

  • Batch 1 – Lagg 3 year 1st Fill Bourbon Cask (Summer 2023) 50%
  • Batch 2 – Lagg 3 year (30 month ex-Bourbon, 6 months Olorosso) 2023 50%
  • Batch 3 – Lagg 3 year (30 month ex-Bourbon, 6 months Roja Red) 2023 50%

We began with the Lagg 3 year 1st Fill Bourbon Cask (Summer 2023) 50% 50 PPM

  • Nose – Herbal notes to start, young, fresh mash, clean and sweet with a grassy rather than medicinal peat, a hint of heather and puff of smoke
  • Palate – Very promising, creamy with a citrus zest
  • Finish – Nicely lingers, more so than I had expected from such a young dram

What we tried was literally bottled the week before! It then officially launched in France on Oct 1, 2022 (after Paris Whisky Live!) as an inaugural limited summer release. Mariella shared that they see their peat as more “Aberdeen west coast style”, gentler than the robust peat monsters some Islay distilleries produce.

She also shared how the idea for Lagg’s full focus on peat began with their experiemnt’s with their Lochranza distillery peat expressions – like Machrie Moor and their Cask Strength. Since deciding to set-up the Lagg distillery, they have stopped producing any new peat expressions at Lochranza.

Next up was the Lagg 3 year – 30 month ex-Bourbon, 6 month Olorosso finish (2023) 50% also 50 PPM.

  • Nose – Mmmmm a chocolaty sweet peat, richer than the 1st dram with loads of dark fruit sherry notes, raisins and sweet spices
  • Palate – Very smooth – the sherry finish works wonderfully with the peat
  • Finish – A lovely cinnamon finish

Delicious! In this case, it was initially matured in bourbon casks before being finished for an additional six months in 55 liter ex-Oloroso sherry casks for 6 months. Mariella also mentioned how they used Concerto barley and peat from the North East of Scotland.

She then shared a virtual tour of the new Lagg distiellery (after some small technical hiccups!). While many interesting stories were shared, one element was the contrast between the “mountain” pure water at Lochranza distillery and Lagg distillery’s use of a borehole with distinctly different taste. Another is how important it is to have the significantly expanded space for cask storage at the new facility.

Mariella also shared that while Lochranza (Arran) whiskies are sweet and easy drinking, the intent for Lagg is not just peat but also a deliberately ‘harsher’ quality.

And with that we moved on to the last whisky, closing with Lagg 3 year – 30 month ex-Bourbon, 6 months Rioja Red 2023 50%:

  • Nose – Dry nutty element, sweet cinnamon, a bit herbal
  • Palate – Curious character – some minerals? Also a bit fruity – mostly dark berries, some oak
  • Finish – Wine followed by a cinnamon finish like the Olorosso

The peat in this was quite subtle – and the ex-Rioja red wine Firkan was a bit curious – particularly on the palate. I wish I had tried this with a bit of water, as have a feeling this one needs to open up a bit to reveal its full character.

It was terrific to have a chance to explore these early Lagg expressions. I’m curious to see how they evolve in the coming years.

In the meantime, I remain a complete fan of Lagg’s big sister Lochranza:

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St Kilian Berry Metal Cocktail – with peat??

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Sometimes you are just in the mood for a refreshing cocktail – especially on a warm summer evening! However, using an intensely peaty berry-infused liquor isn’t intuitively the “go-to” standard base…

However, that’s exactly the kind of experimentation you can expect from the folks over at St Kilian. So when we saw the cocktail suggestion for St Kilian Grave Digger – Berry Metal 40% Liqueur, we had to try it!

It came to us as #8 in a recent St Kilian tasting set – part of their December 2022 launch of some new expressions. On its own, the Berry Metal liqueur is an incredibly potent burst of berry “wow!” with a peaty kick.

So then we simply had to try it in a cocktail. They provided a recommended recipe – something they called a St Killian Berry Tonic. It is simple and straightforward, and most importantly, we just so happened to have everything needed.

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Gordon + MacPhail Discovery: Caol Ila 13 year 43% 

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Amongst the Islay distilleries, Caol Ila is generally known to be one of the lighter whiskies – both in terms of its peat and colour as they typically stick with ex-bourbon barrels for maturing. This leads to generally quite an approachable balanced peat dram. And for all those folks who love the light peat in Jonny Walker? Caol Ila is likely responsible!

All of this made it a perfect choice for our final whisky in our evening exploring different dimensions of single malts. I already sampled this particular Gordon & MacPhail Discovery series expression at Paris Whisky Live. It was just a teasing taste, yet enough to be confident in adding it as the “peat” element in our 1st Nurnberg International Whisky Tasting evening.

So what did we think?

Caol Ila 13 year 43% 

  • Colour – Old gold (0.6)
  • Nose – Initially greeted by wet wood and embers, then warmed into smoked pork belly, maple bacon, and cured sweetmeats. After some time, the fruit came more to the fore with glazed banana, roasted pineapple, sweet grass
  • Palate – Smoked meat, soft, gentle peat, fruity
  • Finish – Long sweet cinnamon and lightly smoky
  • Water – Personal choice – for some, this helps open up the whisky to enhance the fruitiness, for others, it was not needed at all!

We had a few peat skeptics in the room… many of whom were pleasantly surprised at the subtle sweet peat and balance of this whisky – cured meats glazed with fruit were much more approachable than some “in your face” bold peat “bonfire” and “iodine” whiskies!

For those of us familiar with the distillery – it is what we have come to expect – a balanced peat, the kind of dram that invites you to slow down, curl up into a comfy chair, put on some good music, and just relax, slowly sipping and savouring.

What do the good folks over at Gordon & Macphail have to say about this expression?

Sweet vanilla and dry cured meat aromas. Peat smoke umdertones are complemented by banana and apricot.

Ripe banana, kiwi and vibrant hints of fresh citrus, leading to a long, sweet and smoky finish.

With this peat expression, we closed our inaugural tasting session in which we explored the impact of cask (ex-bourbon and ex-sherry) and peat in the Gordon & Macphail Discovery series!

Our evening explored a quartet from Gordon & Macphail’s Discovery series.

Around the room, we had slightly different preferences – however if you pushed me to rank, I would probably put the Miltonduff 1st, followed by the Aultmore, then this Caol Ila, finishing with the Glenrothes.

What additional Caol Ila tastings over the years? There have been a few – mostly from independent bottlers:

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St Kilian Classic + Peated – Balanced + Beautiful!

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I love tasting sets! It is such a terrific way to explore different whiskies – a teasing taste that tells which you want to have more and which was enough to just have that one experience!

In the case of two recent St Kilian tasting sets, their new “standard” expressions are so enjoyable that as soon as I return from Canada to Germany, they’ll be ordered to share with folks back in India (yes – I lead a slightly complicated life, geographically speaking!).

These notes are from a tasting experience in Winnipeg, Canada, where we began our St Kilian experience with this pair:

  • Classic – Mild & Fruity 46%
  • Peated – Rich & Smoky 46%

Naturally, we began with the “Classic” aka Mild & Fruity.. which indeed lived up to its name!

I’ve tasted this particular expression both in Germany and Canada – loved it both times! Here is an amalgam of both experiences:

  • Nose – A happy sunshine aroma – first whiff and yum! It had lovely warm white peaches, apricots, ripe pears, yellow plums, raspberry cream, baked banana bread, red licorice… it reminded us just a little bit of a bunch of juicy fruity gourmet gummy bears! Accompanying all the delicious fruits were some light sweet spices
  • Palate – Delicious! Silky smooth and more like a fruit spirit than whisky! Yet richer, with some depth of character giving a firm fabulous foundation to the experience! We found some lovely baked pear tart, caramel drizzled banana cream pie, marzipan, toffee, and vanilla cream with just a hint of something deeper, adding an oak spice and fruit interplay
  • Finish – A fabulously fruity and desert-like finish, chased by honey sweetness

In short – yum! It was a veritable fruit basket! The aroma at one point reminded me of a Raspberry soda – the kind that you specifically get at a Parsi wedding! It’s exceedingly “sippable”, with the only danger being an empty glass!

This is MY kind of St Kilian – fruity, fun, and fabulous!

MILD FRUITY FRONT 1So what goes into creating an expression like this? The folks at St. Kilian shared that their Classic is a combination of different ex-bourbon casks (70%) and Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks (30%).

  • Appearance – Light gold
  • Aroma – Multi-layered fruity notes of ripe apricots, peaches, yellow plums and plantains are combined with creamy vanilla to create a sweet blend of fruit, which is accompanied by delicately spicy oak and a delicate herbal note of fresh mint and some sage.
  • Taste – Balanced sweetness and at the same time warming with apricots and peaches, creamy toffee and spicy oak aromas, refined with a pinch of piquant white pepper and perfectly rounded off with a hint of fresh mint.
  • Finish – Creamy caramel notes linger for a pleasantly long time with fine brittle, subtly dry oak spice and a hint of fine herbs.

Overall, I would concur – our experience and the official tasting notes are quite well aligned, we just didn’t catch the herbal notes, however, we also didn’t give the whisky much time in the glass!.

We then moved on to the Peated expression, Rich & Smoky, tasted only in Canada. And what did we discover?

  • Nose – A summer campfire, with properly dried wood so it is a sweet smoke, we also found Montreal smoked meats (beef brisket or pastrami – take your pick!), a slightly saline sea breeze, a hint of brazil nut, muskat grapes… the more time it spent in the glass the fruitier and sweeter it became, revealing some of the apricots and yellow plums found in the Classic
  • Palate – Clean, mild peat with an initial “zap” that quickly mellows to become incredibly smooth. Long and balanced. A little fruit, some oak, and sweet spices married perfectly with a gentle peat.
  • Finish – Lingers with a delicious cinnamon spice

Just like the Classic, this was exceedingly balanced, enveloping in a warm and cosey embrace. It is approachable and comforting at the same time. VERY well done!

RICH SMOKY FRONT 1

What more do the folks at St Kilian have to say? Obviously, they use peat! In this case, barley malt from the Scottish Highlands with a phenol content of 54 ppm. And like the Classic expression, it is also a combination of different ex-bourbon casks (70%) and Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks (30%).

Their official tasting notes share:

  • Appearance – Gold
  • Aroma – The beguiling fruit bouquet of grilled apricots, juicy pears and ripe bananas is refined with sweet vanilla and a dash of lime, perfectly surrounded by mild peat smoke and complemented by dry ash tones with cooling mint.
  • Taste – Full-bodied, sweet and fruity with vanilla, apricots and pears, in a harmonious interplay with creamy toffee and delicate peat smoke, which elegantly underlines the warming oak spice with a pinch of white pepper and fresh mint.
  • Finish – Pleasantly warming with creamy fruit compote and dark toffee, which are accompanied by ashy smoke and a subtle dry oak spice for a long time.

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St Kilian Tasting Set – December 2022

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From St Kilian’s First Signature Edition, I’ve found these folks are on to something! What I really appreciate is how they openly share their experiments into crafting distinctive whisky!

Whilst we missed the original online tasting from December 2022, thanks to the good folks at St Kilian, 2 sets made it to my friends so that the three of us could explore together. And that’s exactly what we did one fine weekend, after a day of merriment at a Medieval fair.

The set was mostly peaty (white bottles) with three unpeated expressions (black bottles) from distinct series: Signature, Heavy Metal inspired Grave Digger, Core range (Classic & Peat), Hand-filled, and a complete experiment! None of their Bud Spencer or Terence Hill expressions were included – I still have these on my next “to try” list!

We decided to try the initial five, leaving the balance for another tasting. So, what was in the original line-up?

  1. St Kilian Buche Meets Zeder (2017 – 2022) 57.7%, 680 bottles – A curious combination of beech and cedar, we didn’t even take much in the way of tasting notes… sorry!
  2. St Kilian Classic – Mild & Fruity 3 year 46% – Utterly delightful! I’d love to see St Kilian do more along these lines! Fruity, fun & fabulous!
  3. St Kilian Signature Edition ‘Twelve‘ (2017/18 – 2022) 50.8% – Another unpeated expression, worth trying!
  4. St Kilian Hand filled – Paelzer Eich ex Moscatel (2017 – 2022) 60.2% – An experiment
  5. St Kilian Grave Digger – Fields of Blood 47% – It almost felt like we were waiting for the ‘best for (nearly) last!’ When St Kilian does smoke this way, it’s my kind of peat!
  6. St Kilian Signature Edition ‘Thirteen‘ (2016/18/19 – 2022) 53.9% – What a remarkable experience together with its deconstructed set!
  7. St Kilian Peated – Rich & Smoky 46% – Tried another evening in Canada together with the ‘Thirteen’ 
  8. St Kilian Grave Digger – Berry Metal 40% (Liqueur) – Saved to bring to Canada… described as an incredibly potent berry wow! (with a “kick”) 

So, let’s get on with the tasting, shall we? St Kilian Buche Meets Zeder (2017-2022) 57.7%

We began with the special edition experiment! As most whisky drinkers would know, Oak is the only permitted wood to mature Scotch whiskies. However in Germany, where rules aren’t so strict, several distilleries have successfully experimented with chestnut. American distilleries too have played around with Chestnut, Applewood… even a Japanese whisky has experimented with cedar cask finishes.

Why mention this experimentation? Well, with St Kilian Buche Meets Zeder, we have a cask-strength peated whisky that plays around with a combination of beech and cedar wood!

What did we think? Well… to be honest we struggled a bit with this one:

  • Nose – Woah! A chemical factory, acetone, burnt rubber, an old musty wine cellar, cork
  • Palate – Reminded us of cedar resin, pine, aromatic oils, slight hint of citrus
  • Finish – Sticks in the back of the throat, like retsina
  • Water – Better. A bit sweeter, some sour apple sauce, cinnamon, and citrus battled with the curious cedar and something else!

Whilst I didn’t find the official tasting notes, was able to track down a few further details courtesy of Whisky.com. Namely, it is approx 4 years with a combination of Barrels 1571, 1572, 1573, 1574, producing 680 bottles, and is described as:

…the combination of beech and cedar wood gives this gently smoky single malt whiskey aromas of fresh pine needles, essential oils and freshly grated lemon zest.

Hmm… We found the peat impact to be quite “forceful” rather than “gentle” on the nose, however, would agree with the other elements. And like many things, an experiment could be wildly successful or it could go very wrong. In this case, we simply had to admit, it isn’t really our style… Do you really want pine needles and essential oils in your whisky? However, you don’t know til you try!

–++–++–++–++– St Kilian Classic Mild & Fruity 3 year 46% –++–++–++–++–

Up next is a new “standard” in their core range – to be regularly available. In terms of casks, they shared that:

70% were allowed to mature in different bourbon casks and 30% in Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks. Together with Amarone casks, these are among the main types of casks at St. Kilian Distillers and thus guarantee long-term availability. “The 70:30 ratio of bourbon to sherry casks has turned out to be a wonderful mix for us and also offers a combination that which was previously missing from our portfolio,” says Mario Rudolf happily.

Certainly sounds promising… so what did we think?

MILD FRUITY FRONT 1

What a mixed bunch! Some we thoroughly enjoyed, some challenged us, but that’s what we love about St Kilian! They are always experimenting, always trying different combinations, and aren’t afraid to put out to the whisky world things that might make one wonder…

PS Whilst it was a pity we missed the online tasting in December 2022, it was such a treat to get this double tasting set courtesy of the folks at St Kilian. Keep experimenting and keep sharing! We may not love everything, but we admire the journey, and when there is a gem or two – brilliant!

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Germany’s Elch Torfduett 50.6%

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One of the highlights at the 2022 Schwetzinger Whisky Festival was spending time with the folks from Elch Distillery. The setting was inviting, at the Schloss just outside of Heidelberg. I was captivated by Elch’s cheeky Moose mascot, its use of local elements, and its commitment to the spirit’s craft.

Along the way, sampling various whisky wares, I also developed a weakness for their absolutely fabulous range of liqueurs. Can I just say “Eier Elli” – BEST egg liqueur! They also make a mighty fine Gin – yum!

However, the focus is their whisky and experimentations with German peat. That summer, their peaty Torf vom Dorf was my “pick” of the festival!

As a proud Franconian distillery, not so far from Nuremberg, my friends and I had plans to make a weekend trip – check out the distillery, their gasthof, maybe even their nearby “glamping” set-up. We thought perhaps sometime in the summer 2023.

And then we heard the terrible news of their tragic fire in February – destroying the roof. A terrible setback and much effort lies ahead to rebuild. Naturally, our plans to make a summer jaunt were postponed.

Which was why it was so good to have a chance to check in with the fine folks at Elch at The Village 2023 whisky festival in Nurnberg. They shared their hopes to overcome the challenges and launched two new whiskies were featured:

  • Torfduett – a new entrant to their core range, matured in 90% ex-bourbon barrels and 10% acacia
  • “Neustart“ – a special “reboot” edition at a deliberately higher price to help raise funds to support the rebuild of their brewery and distillery.

My friends sampled several and I just had sniffs of their glasses as it was (alas!) a non-tasting day for me due to dental issues! However, the good folks at Elch took pity, and sent me away from their booth with a wee sample of Torfduett that I decided this fine summery day to crack open!

Elch Torfduett 50.6%

  • Nose – Fresh timber and tires, bay leaf, orchard fruits, sweet spices of clove and cinnamon bark, a hint of toffee, and a whiff of vanilla pod
  • Palate – The peat is more subtle than anticipated, like warm embers rather than a raging forest fire, yet still firmly there, chased by light-baked fruits – mostly pear with green apples too.
  • Finish – Lovely and lingering with a hint of chilies
  • Water – Yes, please! Brings out a delightful cinnamon spice and everything nice

There is something quite “fresh” and green about this one. And a nice new addition to their range – well done!

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