History In A Bottle Day 21: Elements of Islay Peat & Sherry KWM Cask
Posted on December 21, 2022
This post is Bonus Content. It has information on one of the KWM Cask bottles that are featured on the back of our 2022 KWM Whisky Calendar box. You can find the blog post for the mini bottle for Day 21 of our 2022 KWM Whisky Calendar here.
by Andrew
If you were to ask me which of all the KWM Casks was most likely to show up on European Auction sites, the Elements of Islay Peat & Sherry would not have been in even my top 10 guesses. But a chunk of it found its way there somehow, and not by my hand. Even to Serge Valentin of WhiskyFun fame managed to taste and review it. While I agree with his sentiment that it should have been called Sherry & Peat, I do feel his 86pt score was a few notches too low. The Whiskbase average of 88pts seems a bit more accurate, IMHO.
Blended at Birth, and matured 9 years in a single very active sherry hogshead, this 9-year-old was bottled after 9 years at 55.4%. The whisky as with our Single Malts of Scotland casks came about through the generosity of our friends at Elixir Distillers, who have for a few years now been lining up some absolute belters for us. The bottles were only 500ml, but at $75 they were a steal!
Elements of Islay Peat & Sherry KWM Cask
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: dark, rich and peaty; treacle sauce and sticky toffee pudding; dark chocolate infused with smoky bacon; brandy-soaked Christmas cake and loads of dark fruits; salted caramel and spicy mole sauce.
Palate: a surge of big tarry peat, salted caramel and more spicy mole sauce; rough new leather, cigar tobacco and crisp spices: allspice, clove and cayenne; dark chocolate with chilli oil and smoky bacon; chewy malt, medicinal smoke and dry nutty sherry tones.
Finish: long, coating and drying; big spices, tarry peat, dark chocolate, tobacco and all sorts of intense nutty sherry notes.
Comment: this is an unapologetic intense smoky sherry bomb; a beast of a whisky and very good value.
86pts Whisky Fun
"Peat & Sherry (55.4%, Elements of Islay, Canada exclusive, Kensington Wine Market, sherry hogshead, cask #47, 475 bottles, 2020) [Four stars]
I find it pretty cool that some Canadian bottling would end up in Alsace. But it's true that we've always got special relations, since WWI. Having said that, I'll have to work on my Canadian whiskies, but I'm sure my dear friend Davin would help. Anyway, this is Scottish, not Canadian… Colour: red amber. Nose: rather oak than sherry at first, ground coffee, walnut stain, teak oil, stuff like that. Chestnut honey and Guinness. No real lace at this point, but let's go on… (by the way, do you know Alice Cooper's sweet record 'Lace and Whiskey'? Check it out). With water: wood, 'an afternoon at Ikea's', pinecones, hot chocolate, embrocations… Mouth (neat): thickish, tarry, heavy, oily and ridden with liquorice and pine-y stuff. Maybe a tad challenging, maybe rather for the great wide open, as Tom Petty would have said. With water: softer, more on chocolate and black teas. I like it better at +/-45% vol. Finish: long, on salted chocolate and lemon. There's also something Demerara-y. Comments: this heavy baby slaps your cheeks but give it some of your time and you'll become friends. Perhaps would I have named it 'Sherry & Peat' instead... SGP:466 - 86 points."
This entry was posted in Whisky, Independent Bottler, KWM Whisky Calendar 2022, KWM Single Cask
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