A cracking sight to see - Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire Cask Strength! Akin to its lower strength sibling, this is a marvellous single malt Scotch whisky all the way from the Isle of Islay (no clues as to which distillery it came from, mind), with 25% of it having enjoyed a finishing period in first-fill Oloroso sherry octaves. But, y'know, bottled at cask strength. The bumped-up ABV has made for an immensely satisfying flavour profile, with smoke, spice, sherry and s... Fruit. OK, that last one doesn't quite fit the alliteration I was going for, but there are oodles of red apple and raisins notes to enjoy here, so it felt wrong to miss it off.
Rock pools and burning turf, mixed with wafts of fresh orchard fruit and dates.
Apple chips, salted peanuts, slightly vegetal peat, chilli flakes, chocolate digestives dipped in coffee.
Cask char and meaty malt, with another helping of apple sweetness slowly fading.
Definitely a big dram, but not cumbersome in the slightest.
Was on my last bottle and Batch 02 is so good I've been skimping. I couldn't believe it when I saw this was back in stock today. Cheers MoM for finding a bottle of this release at this stage.
Finished both bottles of Batch 01 and now onto the first of a couple of Batch 02. Unexpectedly picking up some dried fruits on the nose. First sip is very drying on the palate but not at all unpleasant and a deep malty roundness is followed by a long finish of burnt Christmas pudding. Another winner for me.
Hmm, an interesting dark dram. *sip*...Wagggh! Hoof! Hargh! Oh Lordie! Not subtle, not for the faint hearted, but bloody good!
