Croftengea 11 2007 Jack Wiebers Auld Distillers Collection

I had to take a break from reviewing for a few weeks due to covid crippling my senses, but fortunately they’ve returned more quickly than I’d even hoped for. For a while I’d been intrigued by Croftengea, and Loch Lomond in general. It’s an interesting distillery, and I’ve taken a couple chances on novel expressions I haven’t yet tried, such as a peated whisky from the SMWS with a 100% malt mashbill that was distilled in a column still thus needing to be designated as single grain. As a peat fan, when reading of Loch Lomond the two brands that caught my attention were Inchmoan and Croftengea. I’ve seen Croftengea described as the peatiest whiskt they produce, but have seen ppm spec that indicate Inchmoan is peated a but more, so I can’t really say for sure. All that said, this is my first expression from the distillery so hopes are high.

Croftengea 11, 2007 Vintage, Jack Weibers, Highland Single Malt, 53.5% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in 2007and matured in a bourbon cask for 11 years and bottled in 2018 yielding 220 bottles. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn, also water added later on.

Color: Pale gold; 0.3.

Nose: Mineraly, salty, winey, smoke later. Dank and musty.

Taste: Earthy and vegetal, smoke, salt.

Finish: Musty, salty, peppery. Long.

Interesting one to say the least. Initially, I really disliked it. It was a bit too funky for me (and as a Campbeltown and Ledaig fan, that’s saying something) and it had an overall feel a beverage can have when it’s ‘turned’. That, however, was in the first few drams I had to get a sense of the whisky (when I have a bottle, I make an effort to have a few drams (or more) pretty casually before actually reviewing it). Of course, the process is different in those settings. Whatever was ‘off’ to me when sipping casually wasn’t present when holding the whisky in my mouth to let my tongue get acquainted with it. It performed much better in this context, and while not a revelation, it was a decent dram. Water muted everything a bit. It didn’t drown, and it did help mute some less desirable aspects, but it muted the desirable ones as well. I’m not sure I’d adjust to score based on water.

Score: 77

2019 Advent #10 - Classic of Islay Cask No. 2802

This is an IB bottled by Jack Wieber from Islay without an age statement or distillery disclosure. The site I bought the sample from had it listed as being Lagavulin, and consensus online points that way, but I’ll save that judgment for once I’ve tried it.

Classic of Islay Cask 2802, Islay Single Malt, 57.35% ABV

Minutia: Matured in a cask numbered 2802 and bottled in 2015. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Tawny, 1.4.

Nose: Dark fruit, some smoke and oak.

Taste: Funky, smoky, pepper.

Finish: Barbecue meat in a big way. Earthy peat. Medium.

Guess: Sherry, peated Bruichladdich, either Port Charlotte or Octomore.

The nose screamed Sherry to me immediately after pouring, and while I don’t know cask specifics, I believe this spent its life in a Sherry butt. I believe the claim that this is Lagavulin after the reveal, but there was a funk that had me thinking Bruichladdich, possibly even a Sherried Ledaig. Everything about this makes sense as a young, high proof, Sherried Lagavulin. The nose was quite tame other than the big Sherry clue, but the taste ramped it up to a new level and the finish went beyond that. Had I liked the nose more, this would have been scored a good deal more highly, but the taste and finish got a lot of points on their own.

Score: 89

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar: