I was checking out distilleries local to me a while ago and stumbled across one right nearby that happened to have done a limited batch with smoked malt. As a peat fan, it was right up my alley to drive over and give it a try.
Minutia: Mashbill of 55% distillers malt, 45% beechwood smoked barley. Aged 2 years in American oak. From Batch 1, one of about 220 375ml bottles. Produced in Clifton, NJ. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Color: Russet muscat, 1.3.
Nose: Chocolate. Fruit, cherry being the most prominent. Bit of shortbread/butter cookies, which become more prominent with time in the glass.
Taste: Spices, dark cherry, smoke. Creamy. Chocolate is not really there, but that cherry could be a chocolate covered cherry where the fruit overpowers the chocolate flavor.
Finish: Strong, creamy chocolate, smoke and spice comes in then fades quickly leaving a subtle note of that delightful chocolate around. Medium-long to long.
Wow, I’m super impressed a young distillery so local made something this good. Once they have their tasting room properly open again, I see myself pushing for that to be a place of gathering when getting together with friends to try more of their whiskey. That chocolate quality is potent and delightful, and this reminds me of a Bunnahabhain aged nearly thirty years in that regard. Remarkable they got that with just two. I’m sad this was a limited batch and bottles were small. Price was nice, even for the size, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for the next batch if that happens.
Score: 89
Musical Evocation: Winterfylleth – “Ensigns of Victory”
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