Kirkwall Bay

Nose: Seaside / salt, malted biscuits Palate: Sweet apple & pear. Caramel & vanilla. Nutty. Finish: Mocha, light peat and salt. There is a light salt, smoke and ash on the aftertaste which is quite a dry finish.

Note - I'm doing the Really Good Whisky Company Advent Calendar. I've also decided to pour these whiskeys "blind" (or at least as blind as I can), then providing nose, palate, and finish notes. I'll then look at the label, proof, cask type, etc. before writing my other notes. I'll be providing some guesses around things like proof and cask type and then seeing how much I missed the mark. Slàinte Mhath! Nose: Cracking the bottle, I can swear I'm getting a hint of what I want to say is peat though that's quickly turned into a general funk - maybe we're out of Highland for tonight? Lemon zest, bananas, honey. There's some grainy malt character buried in there, but it's mixed in with some minerality and that touch of funk. A fruit smoothie with blueberries, apples. Some sage and roasted almonds. Lightly toasted sourdough bread with cultured butter. Warming the glass in my hands (it's pretty cold here) is slowly revealing some subtle dark fruits - figs, plums, dates. Going way out on a limb and guessing sherry cask is at play here due to the nut and dark fruits. There's also a level of dryness that makes me wonder if this is a "newer" cask, and sherry casks usually are simply "seasoned" with sherry and then sold, so maybe this is a first fill scenario? Based on the nose alone, I'm guessing we're around 45% ABV. That may change into the taste and finish, though. As I'm acclimating, a bit more of that classic toasted, honeyed cereal grain character is coming through, along with a faint touch of vanilla. So maybe a blend of sherry and bourbon casks? I'm ready to be so wrong here. Palate: I don't know if this is just an off day for me, but the palate here is very light. Toasted grain, honey, and lemon oil. Lightly herbal, with basil, thyme, and mint. Sparkling mineral water. Some subtle baking spices - like what I imagine a "used" cinnamon stick might smell when you just huck the whole thing in and steep it. Cheap English breakfast tea. Just a touch of mint, cucumber, and roasted peanuts. Pie crust. My lack of context on these flavors, as well as the volume not being cranked to 11 (and the fact that I am dumb), really is throwing me here. Doesn't drink very "hot", and the delicate flavors and nose make me wonder if this is relatively young, say 5 years or so. That would make sense, especially with the funk I was getting on the nose, which may be the character of the new make coming through. This is almost all front palate, with a touch of mid. The balance here is much the same, with a lot of brighter, sparkly notes and then things quickly falling off from there. Light mouthfeel, but some decent oil content. Finish: Just the smallest pop of ethanol, a quick taste of wintergreen candy cane, and just the slightest thyme. Lemon oil, pine sap, black pepper come in a little. Then that minerality comes back alongside frosting and vanilla, and things fade away from there. A light, medium length finish. Other notes: When I plugged the name of tonight's sample into Google and saw that it's sourced from Orkney everything immediately came into focus. As noted, when I first cracked this bottle, I could have sworn I was getting some peat but then quickly acclimated, deciding it had to be some kind of light, generic funk. That then lead me down the path of potential sherry cask. In hindsight, a whisky in sherry casks that briefly wouldn't make sense, and much of what I noted here would have made a lot more sense if I'd stuck with that peated thread. Black pepper, spent cinnamon stick, and minerality should've tipped me off. But hey, that's the entire point of running these blind. Ultimately, I didn't properly recognize the peat (if there's an Islay in this calendar and I miss the peat there...), and that fed into me mis-identifying casks. I'd give myself a half point for that one, but that feels like cheating. As for what I got right, I was pretty close on abv, guessing 45% while this clocks in at 46%. And though this is an NAS offering, I'm seeing reference in various places at it's 6 years (not sure where that originates, though), so I'm comfortable saying my guess for age being "5 years or so" is at least in the ballpark, since it has to be at least 3, and the color makes me believe it's definitely well below 10. Though the distillery isn't confirmed, this producer is located quite close to Highland Park and so it's believed that they supply these casks. Looking back, that I mentioned peat and then typed the word Highland should have jogged my memory here. Alas, it did not. Nothing is real. Whiskey is confusing. Still, another fun experience that I've learned a ton from. Cheers!

Nose: Citrus. Flavour: Bit of spice. Aniseed-y hint. Goes a bit towards fruit. Finish: Stays with you for some time. Bit of a licorice-y tang.

Yellow amber in color. Sweet with Citrus zest on palate. Little smoky on finish