Glenrothes Peated Cask Reserve
Glenrothes was founded in 1879 through the work of James Stuart, a local Rothes businessman who began the construction of the distillery, and the Reverend William Sharp, who secured the remaining funds after Stuart was forced to step aside for financial reasons. Though a series of fires, explosions and world events hampered production at times, the distillery has been making whisky for over 140 years for a variety of owners. Much of the Glenrothes stock is aged in ex-sherry casks and some ex-bourbon casks, but like many distilleries, they like to experiment. The Glenrothes Peated Cask Reserve was part of a now discontinued series from 2016 that saw whisky from their 1992 stock finished for a few months in (unnamed) ex-Islay casks. Apparently this was inspired by an association from the 19th century the distillery had with the Islay Distillery Company.
Penderyn Celt
In 2015, Penderyn launched their Dragon range, three whiskies bearing the names of Legend, Celt, and Myth, along with the bold red dragon of Wales on the label. The range serves as an introduction to the brand, separated from their more premium malts, the Gold range. One of the few whiskies with a Kosher certificate. The Penderyn Celt was originally (and mistakenly, at first) finished in ex-Kilchoman barrels but now quarter casks from Laphroaig are used.
Westland Peated
Westland Distillery opened in 2010, started by head distiller Matt Hoffman and Emerson Lamb. The core line of the distillery is made up of three single malts. This Westland Peated was first released in 2014 and is unusual because as experimental as American whiskey generally is, one element that’s almost never seen is peat. One of the more practical reasons for this is because peat is generally harvested from wetlands, and wetlands have been federally protected under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Thus, Westland imported peated barley from Scotland to add to their regular five-malt spirit to make this peated single malt. A fortunate loophole allowed them to recently start harvesting local Washington peat for future projects, but it will be a few more years before the results of that local element are released.