Tasting note by Best of Wines

The Odd one Out

If you're looking to try something completely different, today it is national Fluffernutter day in America! I'm not sure if anyone is familiar with a Fluffernutter, but basically it is a white bread sandwich with peanut butter and some sort of marshmallow fluff spread you can only find in the US. Apparently this is so good that it needs a national Holiday... Anyhow, let's leave this sidetrack for what it is and focus on today's dram instead! We have received permission from Van Wees for this year's Blind Tasting Competition to use one of their Ultimate whiskies, and these never fail to please! I can imagine that today's dram was kind of a difficult one for many of you. When you recognize peat, you will automatically tend towards Islay, some of the Islands and Campbeltown. The same goes for deep sherried whisky, which will almost automatically let your mind wander in the direction of Speyside. Though this is not set in stone, because also in the Highlands you find very peated expressions of whisky and Edradour has a separate label under which they release these Peated whiskies: Ballechin.

COLOUR
Straw gold with a hue of peach
NOSE
Wow, Peat. You can't really deny the peat in this dram! With the peat you get hints of a bonfire, smoked ham, the smell coming from the fire pit, the day after a bonfire while it rained during the night. Some charcoal makes place for rye bread, orange peels and smoked herring (Could we have kippers for breakfast – mommy dear, mommy dear). The whisky also displays hints of pure cocoa and slight notes of dried fruits like prunes and dried figs.
PALATE
The peat is really there, immediately taking over the palate with salty liquorice, hints of laurel, leather, and smokiness. The spirit is rather fatty and you really have to push through to find the more fruity notes, but are rewarded by more prunes as well as some dried orange and cloves. The whole is bound together by a presence of toffee, espresso and German rye bread.
FINISH
In the finish as the smoke dissipates (quite literally) the smoother character of the Ballechin shows its face. The peatiness makes room for a more grainy touch, leaving you with mouthwatering hints of coffee, caramel and remnants of smoke. The way your sweater smells like a night at a camp fire. Here in the Netherlands we have something called Rookworst (smoked sausage) and this finish immediately makes me think of Rookworst. Salty, smoky and juicy and most likely the perfect dram for a cold autumn evening.

CONCLUSION
Oh so many people have guessed Islay for this dram, and we can't blame them. Few whiskies are so bold in their levels of peat (around 50 ppm). But the nose should have given away that we were not looking at an Islay whisky. Though indeed Islay tends to also be extremely peaty, the whisky missed the iodine and maritime influences that only an Islay whisky has. Once you start looking outside Islay, the options become fewer and fewer. The fatty spirit comes from the smaller stills from Edradour, as well as the sherry-like hints of oranges. This wasn't an easy one, but certainly a very nice dram for the peat-lovers out there.