Here we have the counterpart to William Grant's Aerstone Sea Cask, it's Land Cask! As you can probably deduce, if Sea Cask was matured in warehouses on the coast, this variant is aged in warehouses located much further inland. Another point of difference is that Land Cask is a smoky single malt thanks to the use of Highland peat, making for a sweet and smoky dram.
Earthy peat smoke and vanilla pod, with a briney note, black pepper, smoked meats and burnt rubber, with just a touch of fresh fruity sweetness.
Balanced sweet and smoky notes, with aniseed, burnt brown sugar, charred oak and salted honeycomb. Then there's olive brine, barbecued citrus fruit and smoked meats.
Sweet and smoky battle it out on the finish, with vanilla fudge and peat smoke alongside dry, spicy oak.
Chemically astringent sharp bitter taste?.. certainly not smooth and mellow, to me anyway.. an unpleasant experience
This whisky has an aroma that fills a room as soon as you remove the cork. Very pleasant mix of fruits giving it a good sweetness along side a strong peat and smokiness which lingers on your palate in a very pleasant manner.
If you can pick this up for £20.00 a bottle, which I have done on a couple of occasions, it's a great one to have in your collection. I think the nose is great with good amounts of smoke and peat. Sure, there is little complexity on the palate and the finish is all too brief, but whisky at this price is never going to rival the more expensive offerings. For me, it's one that you can open and quaff without remorse. If you have £25.00 knocking around, Laphroaig Select is, for me, a much better option, but at the right price I will happily champion this easy-drinking whisky until the Highland cattle come home.
Great potential - all the flavours of a peaty, smoky, salty oceanside whisky are here - but it's a bit much, tbh. Not much care given to balance, depth or subtlety and the end result is harsh, one-dimensional and distinctly medicinal. Supermarkets are selling this stuff for £30 a bottle, which is the same price range as Laphroig and Ardbeg, and they do this sort of thing a lot better.
Having been lead up the garden path by some non Islay malts that promise peat smoke I wasn't expecting too much. However, This malt offers a significant smoky kick without being too 'medicinal' in flavour. It's sweet, not overly complex, but a very nice dram indeed, with the peaty twang adding balance. Far superior to the 'Sea Cask' IMO. I'd like to see a nearer to cask strength version offered- maybe NAS to keep the price within reason.
