Peat

Port Askaig 8 Year

Port Askaig is an independent bottling from Elixir Distillers, owned by Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh under their Specialty Drinks Group umbrella. Unlike some independent bottlers, Port Askaig does not always disclose where they source each of their offerings, likely due to contractual obligations. Some research into other reviews on the Port Askaig 8 seem to indicate this offering is sourced from Caol Ila, though there is nothing saying that will always be true. While it’s fun to guess the source, at the end of the day this is an Islay single malt purposefully crafted for a particular profile, which is how we will review it. The first offerings of Port Askaig came on the market in 2009.

By Adam | April 20, 2024 | Islay | No Comments |

ASW Distillery was began production in 2016, helmed by Jim Chasteen, Charlie Thompson and Justin Manglitz in Atlanta, though they did release a blended offering out of Charleston, South Carolina in 2011 called American Spirit Whiskey. While a relatively new distillery, ASW looked back to their families’ Scottish, Irish and French backgrounds to guide them toward developing spirits into the modern American market. They offer a wide range of bourbons, ryes and single malts, along with newer takes on white spirits. While they distill most of their offerings themselves, they do have some sourced spirits housed under their Fiddler brand. The ASW Tire Fire is an Islay-style single malt, distilled from peated Scottish barley out of the Highlands. It goes into the barrel – char levels 3 and 4 – at 45ppm. Some versions have been finished in ex-rum casks but the one for this review was not.

By Adam | April 5, 2024 | Foreign | No Comments |

The Cairdeas line under Laphroaig was created to celebrate the Friends of Laphroaig, with the word being Gaelic for friendship. The Friends of Laphroaig is similar in some ways to other scotch loyalty clubs (e.g. the Ardbeg Committee) but is a little unique in that there are actually membership levels. Those levels are gained by inputting points gained by purchasing – what else? – bottles of Laphroaig and other distillery products. The three levels of membership are, perhaps unsurprisingly, Peat, Smoke and Oak. The Cairdeas 2021 is a cask strength scotch that began maturation in standard ex-bourbon barrels before being transferred to smaller quarter casks for more wood influence and then finished in ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry hogshead casks.

By Adam | February 5, 2024 | Islay | No Comments |