Origin: Isle of Islay (Scozia)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 48%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Wilson & Morgan
Average price: € 39.00
Official website: www.wilsonandmorgan.com
Vote: 83/100
Let’s return to this Italian bottler, son of the initiative and experience of its founder, Fabio Rossi, with strong roots in his own family history.
Although the brand was founded in 1992, the origins of the family business go back as far as the 1920s. The company was established in the wine and oil trade in Venice, but after the Second World War it moved to Treviso, where it expanded under the guidance of Mario Rossi, son of founder Giuseppe.
The decision to import Scotch whisky to Italy dates back to the 1960s, starting with basic blends to meet the less than refined tastes of the time, and in about ten years’ time managing to introduce higher-end blends directly from the producers.
In the 1980s, with his sons Fabio and Walter involved in the company, they began bottling single malts on their own in the “Kings of Whiskies” line.
This brings us to 1992, when Fabio Rossi decides to found Wilson&Morgan in order to bottle superior quality whisky, without the addition of color or chillfiltration.
Initially he chose casks from Cadenhead’s extensive selection, but soon he was travelling the length and breadth of Scotland in search of unique casks from each distillery, large or small.
The casks he chooses are generally left to mature on site, arriving at bottling when Fabio’s taste and experience decide the time is right.
Here we are talking about a bottle from the 1582 produced in 2019 from two casks, 14010129 and 14010130, after 5 years of maturation, in an unusually peated version of Bunnhabhain.
Tasting notes
Light gold in the glass.
What a bang of peat! The nose is a compact wall of smoke, meaty and marine at the same time, very dirty and rough. Smoked (and marinated) herring slapped in the face with little grace, barbecue sauce, cloves, but if you dig deeper, underneath, you will find a little sweetness in the biscuity malt with candied orange.
And the palate offers little compromise either, very salty with a hint of acidity, it loses its meaty aspect by abounding in sulphur and soot, Kentucky tobacco, tanned leather and more malt with lemon zest.
Long finish of ash, burnt seaweed, orange.
Grumpy, unrefined, with the impudence of youth, a whisky that would make you want to slap him if it weren’t for the fact that he might answer you.
An unfriendly brat who, however, you can’t help but like.