Islay malts

New Spirit: The Balvenie 17 Year Peated Cask

Filed under: Spirits

Speyside Scotch distillery The Balvenie has released a new limited edition expression, a 17-year old that is finished in a peated Islay cask. This is not the first time that the Balvenie have dabbled in peat. A previous limited edition, Islay Cask, sold out fast and is considered a collectible, selling well North of $200 in the secondary market.

Balvenie Peated Cask, $130.00, is comprised of a marriage of 17-year old Balvenie finished in new oak and 17-year old finished in casks that had previously held an unreleased experimental heavily-peated Balvenie distilled in 2001.

The nose on this expression is honeyed malt, which is The Balvenie's signature, soft oak dried apricots, orange liqueur, with some wood smoke notes chasing the fruit. The smoke is more pronounced on the tongue: indeed it overshadows the fruit. There is a saltiness in the finish typical of Laphroaig.

As Islay malts have grown in popularity, some of the Speyside and Highland distilleries, that generally do not malt their barley with peat, have been playing around with peat finishing to broaden their portfolios.

The Balvenie 17 is interesting, but not as pleasing, I think, as its core expressions. If you want peat, buy an Islay malt I say.

Tags: alcohol, Islay malts, Laphroaig, peated whisky, The Balvenie, The Balvenie 17 year-old peated cask, whiskey, whisky, whisky tasting

Ardbeg Releases Rollercoaster Worldwide

by David Kiley (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Ardbeg Whisky, part of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, is certainly not the biggest single-malt whisky distillery in Scotland. But it has become the most talked about thanks to its often cheeky product names ("Very Young," was a six-year-old Whisky released in 2004 and now sells for $380.00 by some retailers) and creative online marketing.

And so the distillery is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the formation of the Ardbeg Committee, a now-50,000-plus group of fans and followers, by releasing a limited bottling of a new expression called Rollercoaster [see video here].

To create Rollercoaster, which master distiller Bill Lumsden helped name to describe the last decade at Ardbeg, the whisky has been created by taking from ten years of casks, from 1997 to 2006, and vetting enough to create a volume sufficient for 10,000 bottles. In keeping with the occasion, buyers have to be members of the committee, which can be joined online at www.Ardbeg.com.

Rollercoaster fits in well with the growing family of Ardbeg whiskies. That means it has smoke to burn. The key difference between Rollercoaster and, say, Ardbeg's Ten-year-old flagship product, is a bit more sweet spice added to the peat-fires--fudge, burnt sugar and treacle flavors emerge along with a touch of the seaweed and brine that is characteristic of Islay malts. Lumsden is also achieving a level of creamy qualities in the Ardbeg malts that are the envy of other distillers, not that they would readily admit it.

Most of the casks selected are ex-bourbon but a couple are ex-sherry. The result makes for a nice mix of fruit and vanilla undertones. Rollercoaster has been bottled at 57.3% ABV, with the recommended price, $75. It can be ordered through the website at www.ardbeg.com. If shipping direct is a problem, it can be shipped to specific retailers. As with any limited bottling like this, especially cult-fav Ardbeg,it might be worthwhile to buy two--one for drinking and one for saving.

Tags: Ardbeg, Ardbeg Rollercoaster, ArdbegRollercoaster, Bill Lumsden, BillLumsden, Islay malts, Islay whisky, IslayMalts, IslayWhisky, whiskey, whisky