Origin: Lakes District (England)
Type: Blended Malt Whisky
Strength: 46.6%ABV
Ageing casks: N/A
Chillfiltered: N/A
Added coloring: N/A
Owner: The Lakes Distillery
Average price: € 60.00
Official website: www.lakesdistillery.com/
Vote: 45/100
I am a little embarrassed to review this whisky.
As you can see on the official website, I could tell you a long, long story about the name and the idea behind this bottle: the problem is that it tells us absolutely nothing about what it actually contains.
And if I wanted to tell you something concrete about the distillate, I would have very little to say: the only thing that is known is that it’s a blend of their single malt and ‘prestigious’ undisclosed Scottish malts. Enough said. Frankly, it’s far too little for the £55 price tag at home (and far more on the continental market). After all, this distillery in England’s romantic Lake District is renowned for its bombastic presentation of expensive, well-dressed products (as you can see from the flashy box), so I’m not all that surprised.
But this time I have to drink it for you.
Tasting notes
The colour is a not-too-bright golden, I hope an indication of the absence of filtering and dyeing.
The nose is rather dishevelled: you can smell the alcohol, but above all you can feel a nasty metallic note. If you can resist it, you’ll perceive some malt, something of a Williams pear, and a vague dusty note between smoky and mineral.
On the palate it starts with more pleasant tones of gentle peat, honey, the pear and biscuity malt tone returns, and a nice white pepper appears. Unfortunately, when the tingling dissipates, an ugly bitter taste of alcohol and plastic, of immaturity and yeast arrives.
I don’t know what happened, and I feel sorry for the romantic historical figure of the Steel Bonnet, but this whisky is not even worthy of accompanying the most hapless border guard on his lonely patrols of the moors.
Sadly, I have to agree with the vast majority of other online reviews: flunked.
Other perspectives:
Malt Review