Whisky : Glenturret Ruadh Maor 10 Year SMWS 16.48 “Gunsmoke over the moor”

Country/Region : Scotland/Highland

ABV : 60.1%

Cask : Rechar Hogshead

Age : 10 Year (Distilled 16 Dec. 2009)

Nose : Funky earthy smoke, discarded fireworks, and sweet caramelization.  Standing amidst a barbecue with rock salt, an earthen oven, roasted pork, white pepper, brown sugar, and caramelized tomato paste.  Sweeter notes poked through more with time as banana creme brûlée and a bacon chocolate bar came to mind.

Palate :  Medium bodied and intense with ash, gun smoke, and sweet caramelized burnt rice.  Minerals, cordite, and smoke led to the impression of a firing range along with earthy notes of red dirt and the grassy smoke off a cane field fire.  The sweet charred layer of rice on the bottom of a stone pot.

Finish :  Lingering notes of a dirty yakitori grill at the end of the night.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Grandpa’s Box of used Shells

Notes : This was a fabulously earthy Glenturret with interesting notes of grassfire and gun smoke.  The name for this was absolutely on point and the SMWS namers clearly saved their best for Christmas.  Not only was the name great, but the artwork was evocative and pleasing to the eye— even more so after a couple drams.

I reckon peated Glenturret is one of the best values in the world of speciality/single cask peat at the moment, especially as prices on virtually every Islay have crept— or in some cases sprinted— upward.  Ballenchin and Ardmore are right up there as well, though I think some of the earthy, occasionally animal, funk on Glenturret suits me better.

Overall, this was wonderfully smokey in unexpected and unique ways.  I thought this was excellent straight up, though if it felt a little hot and exuberant, water smoothed it out without really changing the flavor profile in a noticeable way.