WHISKY REVIEWS, NEWS, HISTORY & FOLKLORE
A Peated Malt from the Bonnie Banks
This article is the fourth (and final) entry in a series of reviews focusing on Watt Whisky releases. Previously, I’ve sampled a single grain from the lost Dumbarton grain distillery, a Speyside malt from Dailuaine and a young blended malt from Campbeltown. To conclude the run, I’ll be looking at a Croftengea single malt produced a little closer to home, on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
I’ve covered Loch Lomond Distillery quite extensively on this blog, not least during a recent comparison between old and new versions of their core malt (see here). It’s a distillery that seems to encourage discussion, however. A selection of different stills allows the production team to create a vast array of spirit styles making the distillery arguably the most flexible in Scotland. To help differentiate, each spirit variety is given its own name. These include Loch Lomond, Inchmurrin, Inchmoan, Old Rossdhu, Glen Douglas, Inchfad, Craiglodge and Croftengea.
In more recent times, the distillery has simplified things for the sake of its core range. There is the flagship Loch Lomond, which has a light hint of peat smoke, the unpeated Inchmurrin and the heavily peated Inchmoan. The various other versions rarely see the light of day as single malt bottlings. Unless, of course, a cask finds its way to an independent bottler like Watt Whisky.
*Full disclosure: the whisky featured in this review was sent to me free of charge. As always, I will strive to give an honest opinion on the quality of the dram and the value for money it represents.
The Whisky
The dram is aged for 6 years in a bourbon barrel before bottling at 57.1% ABV.
Smell: Malty. Gristy. Grassy straw with lots of peat smoke. Even the smoke is grassy. Almost a slight silage note about it. Cut grass. Lemongrass. Lemon & lime. Grilled pineapple. Savoury biscuits and buttercream.
Taste: Nice soft arrival with fresh fruits – lemon and pineapple – followed by some malty biscuit, soft baking spices, black pepper, liquorice and peat smoke. Little bit of dark chocolate at the back. Black Jack’s! Do they still make them? More spice from the pepper on repeat visits.
Thoughts: Young – but we know that’s not such a big issue with peated whisky as the youth often accentuates the peat. That seems to be the case with this Loch Lomond. It’s such a flexible distillery that it can be hard to know what to expect at times. However, this Croftengea ticks a lot of boxes for bourbon matured peated malt. It doesn’t carry the pungency or the coastal seaweed character of Islay. Instead, it has a very grassy smoke and something of the country about it. Farmy, even. And there isn’t a lot of spirit heat, despite the young age. A different take on the peated style.
Price: £62. Young peated malt isn’t exactly uncommon but this one stands out from the crowd and £62 is an approachable price.
For more about Watt Whisky visit here
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