MykolaK
Reviewed
March 29, 2018 (edited May 26, 2019)
I'm not against heavily peated whiskeys in principle, but something about this just misses the mark for me. I ordered a 1½ ounce pour of this, and I could barely get all the way through; not because of overwhelming smokiness, but because of the smokiness coupled with 61% ABV! Don't get me wrong, there is nuance to this - beyond the obvious smoke and peat there's a background of subtle iodine mixed with sea salt, charred oak, and even a bit of rubber with a HUGE taste of tanned leather that appears out of nowhere right on the end, after you swallow. I had hoped to dilute the heat and bring more of these flavors out by adding a bit of water to the whiskey, but this only made it stick to my palate and leave the smoke and earth flavors to linger for longer and drown out more of everything else that, in my opinion, should have complimented the 309ppm phenol instead of being stuck playing second-fiddle to it. Worth trying just for it's uniqueness, but by no means something I could see myself regularly sipping.