Whisky : Elements of Islay Peat & Sherry; La Maison du Whisky Cask Selection

Country/Region : Scotland/Islay

ABV : 58.5%

Cask : Oloroso Sherry Butt

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ LMDW Singapore

Nose : Popping the lid off a jar of strawberry and currant jam; concentrated sweet fruit leaps out.  Smokey maple bacon frying in the pan and a dark chocolate bar give the impression of sweet smoke, meat, and cocoa.

Palate : Overripe orchard fruits provide a concentrated sugary rush.  Elements of sweet tea, peppercorns, and pickled peppers wash across the palate providing spice and a sweet twang.  The wife described it as “smokey apple juice.”  

Finish : Long and spicy with the heat of white pepper and the licorice of star anise.

Score : 3

Mental Image : Mug of hot apple cider in hand, BBQing outdoors during the winter.

Something Better : Ardbeg Uigeadail (more intense peaty smoke, richer body, less fruit)

Something Similar : Longrow Red 13 Year Malbec (similar peat, less orchard apple, similar tart jam)

Something Worse : Hakushu 12 (similar baking apple, less spice, less body, similar faintly savory pork)

Notes : Apple is probably my wife’s least favorite note to find in a whisky.  If she describes a dram as ‘apple juice’ then I know it is not something she ever wants to drink again.  While we’ve had other great pours from the Elements of Islay series, this one did not hit the spot.

It lacked the complexity of other single casks in the range that we have tried.  It might have suffered slightly from being an anonymous bottle, perhaps knowing the distillery would have given us a better way to gauge its qualities?  I do not think my wife thought less of it for being a mystery bottle, it just did not hit the flavor notes she is looking for in a heavily peated Islay.  If I had to guess, it reminded me a bit of a Bowmore, but I have no way of telling that for sure.

The sherry and the peat did not come together.  They seemed to be in competition with one another, tripping and pushing to get out in the front.  Maybe with more time to breath it might open up a bit more?  We sat with it for a half hour before tasting and probably sat at the bar a good two and a half or three hours and did not notice much change— but perhaps a bottle slowly oxidizing over many months would dull the sherry and perhaps the flavors would play a bit nicer with one another?  Water only seemed to simplify the profile even further rather than unlocking more subtle notes.  It might just be this one was a bit of a miss for us, hopefully someone who can properly appreciate it finds it.