Faultline Blended Scotch Whisky

At 50% ABV, this scotch comes in hot. But with a little time and water it opens up and is decent. It would be good for mixing in cocktails at its $26 price. It does have a nice amount of smokey peat notes, but for a neat dram spend a little more and get something aged a little longer.

Rating: 8/23 I vaguely recall hearing that this was good value, but not amazing. It's hard for me to get, so maybe not the best value for me, but I'm looking forward to trying it. N: Oh, no. This is really light with alcohol wafts. Digging past that, I get half-hearted apple sweetness mixed with a boring first-aid kit (probably a lot of it is just acetaminophen) and a kind of sour smoky meat. It doesn't smell like a very cooked meat though and it's fairly unappetizing. Clean creek water with a bit of minerality. Dirt with faint, stale tobacco. This nose is unfortunately not good. P: Smoky, but not super big and bold. Restrained with faint orchard fruits (apple, white peach). Hefty vanilla with some sweet bourbon barrel spices, but also clean creek water with faint minerality. This palate is all over the place. It almost tastes like someone is trying to assemble it on the fly and they really aren't getting it assembled nicely. Occasional notes of alcohol. That sweetness is kind of just like sugar water. Ugh, but then that sourness. I'm not really liking this. There's a bit of ashtray going on, but it's kind of good. There's some malt after all, so that's nice too. There's also a lot of burn that is actually kind of harsh. I'm still not liking this, but I'll take the improvement. F: Lingering bourbon barrel spices. Sweet, clean creek water. Definitely a bit of hummingbird feeder vibes going on here. Some faint, stale tobacco as well. - Conclusion - This seems like a nice value dram, but it really is lacking the richness and coherence that Johnnie Walker Green has. I was surprised by how sweet this is and while I don't dislike that, it comes across a bit much like this was watered down with sugar water. This is certainly not making it up to a 14, but it isn't going down to an 8 either. I think a 13 is out too because of the burn. Picking now, I'd probably go with a 9. Huh, I'm getting the impression that this is less sweet, less full, more bitter, and more harsh than The Sexton. Maybe an 8 is a possibility. This certainly isn't higher than a 10. What a disappointment. Yeah, I'm thinking an 8 or a 9 now. I'm leaning toward an 8, but I was considering much higher than that previously, so I might go for a 9. No: I think I need to give a rating based on what I'm tasting now and that's an 8. That harshness and burn (presumably from the grain whisky) really kneecaps this. And there just isn't much else going for this. It's kind of like they added some smoke to make this more interesting and full, but it got bitter as a result and lost its elegance.

N: Charcoal fire with vegetables and fruit roasting above it. Honey, herbal tea, cut flowers, and vanilla. Plenty of heathery, earthy peat. Little bit of a grain alcohol ethanol thing, but not bad and seems fair for the price. P: Cooked vegetables, honey, and vanilla. White bread and butter. Good, rich caramel and a bit of milk chocolate when you inhale across it. That chocolate builds and layers into the finish with some barrel heat and baking spice. Definitely has a grainy, cereal alcohol burn, but, again, it seems to fit the dram and feels okay at the price point. This is the most peaty blended scotch I can remember having. And while my review is really probably a bit mixed, I still love it for that peat character. You just don't get this much island character for less than about double the price. The trade off is that you get some astringency and rough edges. I'm perfectly okay with that and will likely snag a bottle of this each time I stop by K&L. Thanks to @ctbeck11 (via @jonwilkinson7309) for the recommendation over on Discord. _______ Please come join a bunch of regular Distiller reviewers are chatting spirits in real time on Discord: https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I will post a new one.)

Nose - vegetal peat, smoked meat, floral notes, ash, lemon, marzipan, dry oak, anise, nutmeg, vanilla, yeast, cereal grain, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - sweet peat, honey, rubber, vanilla, mint, ginger, white pepper, bitter walnut, marzipan, lemon, dry oak, clove, apple, caramel, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with ashy peat, bitter citrus, and dry oak flavors. This is a K&L exclusive aimed at delivering excellent value for the money. At $25 a bottle, it fulfills the price portion of that claim. Let’s see if the quality is there as well. The nose is earthy and smoky with some lemon, baking spices, and marzipan sweetness. The palate starts really nicely with a blast of sweet peat, juicy fruitiness, and a zing of spice. Unfortunately, the youthfulness dominates the finish, ending on a rather bitter, drying note. I don’t know the components of the blend, but there’s definitely some young peated whisky in here. It has a marzipan note that reminds me a bit of Wee Beastie. But this is better than Wee Beastie. My biggest complaint is the finish, which veers into bitter, medicinal territory. While not amazing, this is definitely an amazing deal and probably the best $25 bottle I’ve tried. I’m split between a 3.0 and a 3.5 on this. I’m going to stick at a 3.0, but it’s absolutely worth picking up if you’re in the K&L delivery zone. A big thank you to @jonwilkinson7309 for providing the generous sample!

Incredible bang for the buck here. The aroma is soft, like toast with honey, and almost buttery. There's also a faint sweet fruitiness, a scent of peaches. Overlaid on all this is a gentle smoke, not at all harsh, just warm and enticing. The buttered bread is there in the flavor as well. The mouth feel is deliciously creamy. The smoke turns into a slightly tangy taste and the finish leaves you with a pleasant aftertaste of toast cooked over an open fire, along with rich, creamy honey butter. It's kind of nuts that this is only $25 a bottle. At that price it's comparable to Johnnie Walker Black, which can't compete with this. (Did I mention it's 50% ABV?) I assume the only reason this hasn't taken the world by storm is that it's a private-label blend that's only available from K&L Wines. But then again, why is that? Perhaps it's best not to ask too many questions. This is one of the few whiskies where, on trying it (and remembering how little I paid for it), I immediately knew I would want to get another bottle, and (assuming it remains available from K&L) maintain it as a standard in my liquor cabinet. The combination of quality and price is remarkable. One more bonus of living in California!

Initial impressions: Creamy, rich, vanilla, honey, caramel, light peat, short finish. Reminds me a wee bit of Kilchoman Machir Bay.

Wow.  This is a K&L exclusive, blended by Douglas Liang. I don't write a lot of reviews of bespoke bottles, but this one deserves it.   Faultline is a blend of Highland and Island whiskies.  The Highlands provide a rich, fruity, creamy base, with a pleasant smoke from the Island contribution.  It works beautifully.   What other whiskies have a super rich fruity and creamy base with a nice layer of smoke? (I'm talking super fruity and creamy.  By comparison, take for Balvenie Peat Week - fantastic whisky but not in the same rich, lush category) There are only two other whiskies I'm familiar with that make for a useful comparison - Glenglassaugh Torfa and Compass Box Lost  Blend. (Feel free to let me know if I'm missing some obvious ones). So how does the Faultline compare? Fortunately, I have a bottle of the No Name on hand, along with a sample of the Torfa. The Torfa (which I very much enjoy) is frequently described as rich, buttery, and creamy.  I agree, but the Faultline is richer, creamier, and more buttery.  The Torfa has just a hint of youthful harshness; the Faultline does not.  The peat of the Torfa is slightly barbeque; the Faultline's peat note doesn't have a barbeque aspect, but it's a very nice smoke nevertheless - not at all bitter or ashy.  Two solid performances, but I give the nod to the Faultline.   The Lost Blend (excellent, IMO) is not richer or creamier (but about equal) but is more complex - more nuance in the fruit notes, a hint of wood spice, and a more distinguishable oak influence.  The Lost Blend's peat is a bit stronger, while still allowing the fruit to shine. The winner?  The Lost Blend.  But still, the Faultline keeps it respectable.   I've made both comparisons without regard to price.  The Torfa goes from $60-80 here in the U.S., while I believe I paid $99 at Binney's for the Lost Blend.  The Lost Blend is once again...lost...as a limited edition, it's mostly sold out, unless you want to pay $1600 for it at Cask Cartel (no, I'm not exaggerating).  So at $25 and with an ABV of 50%, the Faultline is a stunning accomplishment.   I don't consume enough whisky to require a "daily drinker", particularly given my stockpile of bottles that refuses to stop growing.  Nevertheless, I've already ordered a second Faultline bottle.  K&L does releases like this on a batch-by-batch basis, and this is one I'd like to have on hand indefinitely.  And since Cask Cartel is not going to get $1600 out of me, it may be as good as it gets in this niche!

Great, especially considering the price.