Sit up straight in your chair and brace yourself. When the makers of this Scotch named it the Wee Beastie, they knew what they were doing. At only 5 years old, this is a hulking, brute of a dram that can reduce you to a simpering, sobbing mess, curled up in the fetal position on the floor if you do not afford it some respect. But, add several drops of water and the beastie retreats to leave you with wonderful campfire smoke combined with elegant sweetness and a touch of citrus on the finish. This Scotch will be given a special place on my shelf…. I am beyond impressed!
Put down that smooth mellow Scotch that hails from Speyside or the Highlands.
Take an adventure to Islay, the home of all things peated.
The blenders at Compass Box have sourced several single malts from Caol Isla and one expression from Laphroaig. The net result is what is termed a blended malt. At school during my M.Sc. studies I was led to believe that blended malts were the exception with blended Scotch whisky being more common. The distinction is, a blended Scotch comprises a base distillate to which malt whisky has been added. A blended malt is a blend of just malt whiskies with no base distillate to take away from body, texture and mouthfeel.
Powerful, assertive, in-your-face, are descriptors that apply to the Peat Monster. When I pour myself a dram and settle into my leather armchair, my wife says she cannot handle the peat aromas coming from my glass and runs screaming from the room. Like I said….this stuff is powerful.
I have done the usual suspects from Islay, at least to the extent that they are available to me in Canada. I have sampled Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Bowmore and a couple variants of Ardbeg. All good to be sure. But nothing impresses me like the Peat Monster.
To John Glaser and his team at Compass Box, I say well done gentlemen! Keep the creative expressions coming. And keep sending product to Canada.
Irish Whisky is a misunderstood class of Whisky. I don’t know of many people that drink Irish Whisky on a regular basis, but those that I do know of will tell me they drink Bushmills. After I talk with them a while, I soon realize they have not explored the Irish whisky issue much deeper than to claim some degree of brand loyalty to a particular product.
There are actually 3 types of Irish Whisky: (1) Single Malt, (2) Irish Pot Still, and (3) Blended.
An Irish Single Malt whisky is made from 100% malted barley. Distillation is carried out via the triple pot distillation method. Three copper pot stills are used in this method and what emerges from the final still will be a nice, clean distillate at about 80-85% abv. The following image shows a 16 year old Irish Single Malt from Bushmills that I found in Calgary at Willow Park Spirits. I was so happy to have found this, I did not so much as flinch at the price. By the way, the book in the image is one of my textbooks from my studies at Heriot-Watt University. If you want a top notch book about Whisky, let it be this one edited and compiled by two world renowned experts.
Bushmills 16 Yr Old
An Irish Pot Still whisky is made from a combination of malted grains and un-malted grains. There must be at least 30% malted grain and at least 30% un-malted grain in the recipe. Triple pot distilling is usually employed, although a double distillation method could be used. Check the label of the bottle. If the label bears the words Triple Pot Distilled, then you know.
An Irish Blended Whisky takes us into the realm of what people refer to when the loudly declare that they drink something like “Bushmills”. A blended Irish is not unlike a Scotch blended whisky. It is comprised of about 2/3 base alcohol and 1/3 single malt or pot still product. The base alcohol has come off a column still at about 95% abv and has likely been made from wheat. A trip to your average, ordinary liquor store will have you come face to face with blended products because they will carry a cheaper price point and will appeal to a wider audience.
There is nothing wrong with an Irish blended whisky. Just like there is nothing wrong with most Scotch blended products. Clean and approachable are two apt descriptors.
But, if you are looking for a deeper experience, take a look at something like Bushmills 16 year old single malt Irish whisky. When I poured a wee dram my first instinct was to use my eye-dropper to add several good drops of water. This is what I normally would do when tasting a fine Scotch. But, in the case of Bushmills 16, a couple small drops was all it took to open the whisky up. Being triple distilled, it was softer and more elegant than many of the Scotches I drink. I was in a near state of nirvana as I finished my dram. Needless to say, I will not be sharing this whisky with anyone else.
Treat yourself right during these challenging times. Get yourself some really good whisky. Make it a Bushmills 16 year old single malt.
