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KWM 2021 Whisky Calendar Day 4: Peat's Beast

Posted on December 4, 2021

by Evan

Day Four has arrived, and I am getting a wee bit parched for some peat. How about you? Shall we see if this Peat’s Beast Single Malt Scotch quenches that thirst?

As you might expect there is no Scottish Distillery named Peat’s Beast. Instead, it is a brand name owned by a company called Fox Fitzgerald, Ltd. The company was established in 2010 and is a broker, independent bottler and brand creator. They have a hand in a few whiskies you may have heard of, creating the Rest & Be Thankful indie bottle brand as well as Peat’s Beast. They also have a hand in both of ex Bruichladdich head Mark Reynier’s current ventures: Waterford Distillery in Ireland and Renegade Rum Distillery in Grenada.

The Peat’s Beast was the first brand the company launched back in 2010 soon after its own founding. As I hinted earlier and as you would expect given the name, the brand’s focus is on Peated Whisky. The beast made of casks on the label is an illustration by a gentleman named Doug Alves; a Brazilian designer that has worked with many brands over the years including Facebook, Toyota, and currently AirBNB. The Peat’s Beast emblem seems to be a remix of another work of his involving motocross which can be seen here.

Besides the flagship expression, we will be tasting today the lineup currently includes a Cask Strength Version, a Cask Strength PX Sherry Finish that we were happy to help launch in Canada, plus three older unnamed Islay Single malts bottled at an impressive 25, 27, 30 and 34 years of age.

Since Peat’s Beast is a brand, there is the distinct possibility that these single malts were sourced from more than one distillery. One could easily assume that all of them were sourced from Islay, but even that might not be the case… Note that the 46% ABV version of Peat’s Beast that we will be tasting dubs itself as “AN INTENSELY PEATED SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY”. Nowhere on the label does it mention Islay though… The 27-, 30-, and 34-Year-Old versions of Peat’s Beast explicitly state do say Islay Single Malt right on the label, so the lack of Islay does seem rather intentional on this bottle.

We have been able to verify via importer Pacific Wine & Spirits that Fox Fitzgerald and undisclosed Peated Single Malt with a peat spec of 33 ppm that is used for this release of Peat’s Beast as well as the Peat’s Beast Cask Strength and PX Cask Strength. One whisky blog says it was sourced from a mystery distillery in Speyside. It could be that Fox Fitzgerald is contractually obligated to not disclose their source. Just to add fuel to the fire: Andrew had a recent tasting with the PX Cask Strength. The next day he revealed to me that he thought it tasted a lot like Ledaig (with a look of horror on his face – jokingly because he is tired of my unabashed love for the style). Is that the case? Who knows? Regardless, it is time to taste this version of Peat’s Beast for ourselves and make our own conclusions. If it tastes good, does it matter what the source is? Let us give it a go!

Peat's Beast Single Malt Scotch - 46%

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: If you stirred olive oil and smokey bacon into your morning oatmeal, I imagine this is what it would smell like. Maybe you squeezed a grilled lemon onto it all for good measure.It is a combination of malt and cereal notes plus oily and mineral-driven peat and salty notes on a bed of ozone and coastal influence.

Palate: Salty bacon again with a side of sliced grapefruit with sugar sprinkled on top. Oily and slightly creamy with plenty of coastal notes in the mix again. Hershey's cookies and cream bars, grilled scallops, lemongrass,  olive oil, and a lavender-scented soap used to ineffectively scrub permanent marker off your child's hands while they pretend they didn't do anything wrong...

Finish: Oily, creamy and salty. Expressive yet remarkably mineral-driven.

Comment: It is likely just the power of perception, but I agree with Andrew: This Beast does have a Ledaig-like quality to it. Or maybe Ardmore? Who knows?!? Whether either is the source or not, I like it!

Like it or not, it is hard to argue that today's dram (funny how dram keeps on trying to autocorrect to drama for me -that word also works in this case!) wasn't different than the first three! Will tomorrow set us straight or veer off in another wild direction? Stay tuned!

Cheers,
Evan
evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Twitter and Instagram: @sagelikefool

This entry was posted in Store, Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, Independent Bottler, KWM Whisky Calendar 2021

 

 

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