Balvenie Peat Week 14 YR $20

The Balvenie is known for its honeycomb-led flavor profile.  One week a year, The Balvenie distills a heavily peated malt.  That week, known as Peat Week, leads us to this wonderful whisky.  Distilled back in 2002, this 14-year-old expression from the famed distillery utilizes only peated barley – no non-peated malt here.  That whisky matured in American oak casks.

In addition to being bottled at a modest 48.3% abv, Peat Week is also non-chill filtered.

Let’s dig in, shall we?

The nose is exactly what you’d expect.  Notes of honeyed malt, wood smoke, lemon peel, and sweet oak abound.  More of the same on the palate.  A quick explosion of rich, sweet honeycomb and vanilla followed by a wave of tempered smoke.  Some sautéed mushroom on the mid palate is accompanied by toffee and wood spice.  The finish is clean and lovely, with hints of burnt orange peel, toffee, and peat smoke.

I love this “heavy” side of The Balvenie.  I use the quotations for a reason.  The Balvenie standard profile is generally that a lighter style whisky, though it still has some richness.  The peat here is not heavy handed.  Rather, it nicely balances with that honeycomb nature generally found in The Balvenie.  Peat Week’s a great way to experience The Balvenie.  At $99 a bottle, this is an easy recommendation. 

 Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey $12

Drumshanbo is increasingly well-known for its delightful Gunpowder Irish Gin, and now the brand is moving into a spirit more associated with Ireland: Single pot still whiskey. This spirit is very traditionally made with unmalted and malted barley and Irish oats in the mash, triple copper pot distilled, and aged in a combination of Kentucky bourbon and oloroso sherry casks for a total of five years.

Let’s give it a whirl.

The nose is surprisingly quiet, offering a pleasantly grainy character with overtones of hemp rope and turned earth, and just a hint of nutty, orange-scented sherry buried deep in the recesses of its aromatics. It’s sweet but not overly so, with notes of butterscotch and almond on offer. On the palate, the whiskey comes across as slightly more complex, with the sherry character popping more effusively, but never with much aggression. A bit gritty at times, the whiskey shows a bit of white pepper and a vaguely floral element, all layered atop fairly expected notes of toasted bread and breakfast cereal. More orange peel and spice notes emerge in the mix as it opens up. On the finish, the whiskey again feels a bit gritty, rustic, and youthful, with notes of barrel char, fresh gravel, and some grassy elements all in a swirl.

Drumshanbo’s single pot still whiskey is never short of pleasant and approachable, but it never really moves the needle on Irish whiskey expectations and comes across as somewhat anonymous in the end. Steady as she goes.

Woodford Reserve Rye $10

Woodford Reserve Rye uses a preprohibition style ratio of 53% rye in its mash bill to pay homage to history’s original rye whiskeys, making spice and tobacco the dominant note among a sea of fruit, floral, and sweet aromatics, which yields a nice sweetness and overall balance. Our rye whiskey can deliver complex flavors – neat, on ice, or in a cocktail. A balanced rye makes a more balanced cocktail.

NOSE

Spicy with distinct notes of rye, black pepper, cedar and cassia bark sweetened with a dusting of marzipan. Hints of pear, apple and almond dance in its depths.

TASTE

Clove, rye, mint, molasses, sorghum and honey mingle together with hints of apple and malt.

FINISH

Long and sweetly spiced.

“When we drink, we get drunk.

When we get drunk, we fall asleep.

When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.

When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.

So, let’s all get drunk, and go to heaven”