Origin: Scotland
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Fox Fitzgerald
Average price: € 52.00
Official website: peatsbeast.com
Vote: 82/100
The writer has never hidden his love for peat whiskies, a passion shared in particular by Italian drinkers who often overlook softer and less “noisy” whiskies that are no less worthy.
How, then, can one resist a whisky whose very name evokes a “beastly peat”? Obviously not!
Peat’s Beast was born from the minds and passion of Eamonn Jones (former regional director of Whyte & Mackay) and Gerald Erdrich (importer for the same company), who decided to create a single malt that would be the embodiment par excellence of peated whisky, capable of giving a “kick” to those who found themselves drinking it.
The two enlisted the late Mark Graham to create the spirit and Doug Alves to design the label, also with the collaboration of Richard Paterson and Aidan Smith, until 2011, when their creation was finally born, with, it must be said, a truly apt packaging.
Over time, two more cask strength expressions have been added, the Batch Strength and the Batch Strength PX Finish (coming soon to these pages), as well as a 25 year old from Islay.
So does Peat’s Beast contain Islay whisky? In their own words, “Peat’s Beast may or may not have come from Islay… peat has always been used by distilleries in the Highlands, Islands and Speyside, with others using peat-burning to dry malted barley once or twice a year”.
Part of the Fox Fitzgerald group, alongside this label we find in their portfolio bottlings of Rest & Be Thankful, The Proclaimer and Strange Ways.
I would like to thank Remko of Anker Amsterdam Spirits and Aidan Smith (with whom I ‘drank’ a prosecco and orange soda from a distance) for the bottles.
Tastint notes
Straw yellow in the glass.
Initially fleshy peat on the nose, with a clear marine profile, from which emerge cloves, dried apricot, orange juice, almonds. Toasted cereals. Rather compact but not at all aggressive, on the contrary, in the long run the wet earth tends to prevail, with a flurry of diced toasted seaweed.
The palate is also not very ‘beastly’, almost measured, with an amusing peppery scattering of charred wood, more wet earth (at times reminiscent of a Ledaig), dehydrated fruit (apricot and a hint of pineapple), apple, liquorice root, toasted bread. Saline on the lips.
Not very long finish of liquorice, salt, orange, hint of pepper.
Leaving aside the fact that it isn’t exactly the Peat Beast that the label promises, it’s nevertheless a pleasant whisky, simple, perhaps even advisable for those who want to approach peat without getting burnt.
Reviews of Peat’s Beast whisky in the blog:
Peat’s Beast 27yo
Peat’s Beast 34yo
Peat’s Beast Batch Strength
Peat’s Beast Batch Strength PX Finish