A new Irish distillery I heard was experimenting with peat in various capacities, I bought a bottle of this when I saw it available and hope to continue trying their peaty whiskey.
Killowen 10 Peat Cask, Ireland Blended Whiskey, 55.4% ABV
Minutia: 75% 2009 grain Irish whisky and 5% 2008 malt Irish whiskey from Ireland and 20% 2008 malt Irish whiskey from Northern Ireland. Started in ex-bourbon casks, blended and aged in Sherry butts, then married with another bourbon aged single malt and finished in a peated malt barrel yielding 398 50cl bottles. Bottle number 52. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Color: Chestnut Oloroso Sherry, 1.2.
Nose: Medicinal pot still whiskey, floral smoke, tobacco. With water, coffee, specifically mocha.
Taste: Fruity grain, hot. Very typically “Irish.” Wood. With water, maltier, tamer, specifically with the heat.
Finish: Smoked/charred meat, heat, oak, that Irish quality persists. Medium. With water, less flavorful, but less intense.
I scored this neat, and did not adjust after the water. It brought out a really nice coffee aroma on the nose, but the part I liked most, that meaty note in the finish, was gone. The finish was less hot, so overall easier to pick things out, but they did become muted. Experimentation with amounts of water could be beneficial. All in all interesting. It’s the first whiskey I’ve had that used casks that previously held peated malt, but did not use peated malt in the mashbill. Some drams it really just tasted like a typical Irish blended whiskey. Some drams it felt almost peated. On the pour where I was focused an taking notes, it definitely came through, but not so much that it could be mistaken for a peated whiskey. Neat experiment, looking forward to seeing what else they make in this vein.
Score: 82
Musical Evocation: Jogger – “Nephicide”
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