From one of the oldest distilleries in Speyside, known for its very flowery, sweet, and very earthy and farmy style… but this time with a healthy dose of peat smoke too, from one of the very experimental batches they have been doing in recent years. The marriage of the style of the spirit with the smokiness turns out to be quite unique, and very different from that of peated malts from other distilleries. We chose to enhance its rustic, earthy and farmy character with a finish of eight months in first fill sherry, which brings out a particularly meaty and leathery touch. Dark and wild at the nose, rich and heavy, it has a very marked note of wet earth and damp woods, and the sherry doesn’t translate into a in immediately winey impression. The same curious interaction of heavily peated spirit and cask choice is also evident at the palate: smoky, but also oily, leathery, woody. On top of the dark aromas and taste, there is a hint of flowery and soapy notes that serve as a reminder that this still is a Speyside distillery after all…