Fifty Stone Single Malt

Smokey sweet with smooth creamy mouth feel

$45-750ml 45% abv Good efforts by Maine Craft Distilling. They make every attempt to capture Maine’s terroir. As Maine Craft puts it “Farm to flask”. Even the white oak used in cooperage is harvested locally. Did they succeed? Well at this time it appears you will have to go to Maine to discover that for yourself as the booze has only State wide distribution. As for me... It smells of cereals and honey. Loads of it, dare I say a fifty stone load. Also there are scent trails of biscuits and salted butter. The kilning process uses peat and seaweed to impart smoke but not a high enough pppm level for campfire or BBQ. Maybe enough phenols to remind you of last nights Popham Beach clam bake. In tasting I get the arrival of sweet and brine with a touch of salt. The development wanders back into a buttered biscuit and then echoes of the cereal and honey in the finish. Faintly reminiscent of Bruichladdich’s Classic Laddie. Again FAINTLY reminiscent. No informative statements on the bottle about unchilled filtering or natural color, although it seems to be a natural color. An age statement would be welcomed too. I have to say Maine as a state has many great thing to offer, seafood, blueberries, a stunning coastline, gorgeous wooded mountains, forest crowded lakes, excellent hunting and fishing. And to the ongoing list I would say Maine Craft Distilling has added one more thing, Fifty Stone.