For our eighteenth dram of Christmas we’re sipping the whisky that started it all – it’s Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire 10 Year Old from the &Whisky range!
The bad news is we have less than a week left of treating ourselves to a dram a day, but the good news is that once that’s over it means that Christmas is here. The other good news is that today we’re enjoying a superbly peaty Islay single malt from Drinks by the Dram’s Whisky Advent Calendar – please welcome Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire 10 Year Old to the stage!
The &Whisky story
The &Whisky brand was created to bring uncomplicated, uncompromising whisky to whoever wants to drink it. The focus is on the whisky itself, not the messaging around it, so you won’t find any fluff surrounding the story of the whisky, because the labels tell you pretty much all you need to know about how it’s made, and/or how it tastes. If, for some reason you have an aversion to ampersands, then proceed with caution.
The flagship whisky Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire 10 Year Old (which, for the purposes of keeping the word and ampersand count down, we’ll now refer to as Seaweed 10yo) was launched in March 2020 to great success. Since then, there have been countless releases from all over Scotland, and a little further afield (Canada and the USA, mainly), with some very exciting mashups entering the picture as of recently.
That’s a festive-looking Seaweed
The Seaweed formula
Seaweed 10yo is a heavily-peated single malt sourced from an undisclosed distillery on Islay, with 25% of it having been finished in fresh first-fill oloroso sherry octaves for at least three months – usually, on average, much longer. The sherry adds a layer of richness and sweetness without overpowering the smoky, savoury whisky.
The name is fairly self explanatory: seaweed in the Islay peat imparts that distinct savoury, smoky character, peat takes ages (or aeons) to form, has to be dug up from the earth, and then fire because that peat is burnt to kiln the barley. Simple!
Tasting note for Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire 10 Year Old
Nose: Hints of spicy oak on the nose, with guava, a little desiccated coconut and dried banana. Buttery.
Palate: Spiced, creamy palate entry, with sweet vanilla notes and caramel. Oaky spices.
Finish: Caramel. Toasted oak.
How to make a Penicillin
50ml Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire 10 Year Old
20ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
20ml honey & ginger syrup
Add all the ingredients to a shaker, shake with lots of ice, double strain into a chilled coupe, and serve with a slice of lime.
We’ll be back tomorrow with another Advent dram. Cheers!
