Origin: Highlands (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 54.9%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon refill
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Whisky Facile
Price: € 99.00 on Whisky Facile
Official website: Whisky Facile
Vote: 87/100
The Black Cats Series is back, from the coolest and sexiest whisky bloggers on the planet, who have now become fully independent bottlers.
I start with the highly peated one from of this new batch of bottles, with the fancy name chosen when Glenturret smokes like a chimney, and the link with the felines can be traced in the monument outside the distillery dedicated to Towser the Mouser who saved the precious malt from the ravenous assault of hordes of rats. The label, as always, was found with considerable inspiration among the works of Mitch Itsallinsideus.
335 bottles (not at cask strength) from a refill hogshead ex-bourbon, bottled for the merry band by A.D. Rattray, described by them as ‘the Octomore of Whisky Facile’ thanks to its 80ppm.
Tasting notes
The nose is very keen on distancing itself from the island ppm: no sea, no iodine, no fishy declinations. The peaty impressions are very arboreal, of burnt wood and undergrowth, with plenty of juniper, aromatic herbs (thyme, rosemary) and black pepper, mixed with a bit of charcuterie (wild boar and venison salami). In between, liquorice, dried blood orange and crème brûlée are thrown in, completing a picture with clear and decisive but not aggressive tones, a bit like the Octomore actually. Along the length, an impression of boiled chestnut emerges.
On the palate, it begins citrusy, between blood orange and tamarind washed down with liquid hydrocarbons, where the naturist component marries the more chemical and artificial one while maintaining a patriarchal dominance, letting the carnivorous soul slip to the background in favour of the fruitarian one, of processed fruit (green apple and plum compote) in a cauldron full of ashes. Spices (black pepper, nutmeg), sparkling cola gelèe, cinchona extract, burnt rosemary and toasted cereals complete the picture.
Long finish of bitterish smoke, cinchona and asphalt, burnt citrus and herbs.
Only for convinced lovers of peat, muscular without being boisterous, with an intense vegetal charge that knows how to indulge in the occasional digression into the blanket of pungent smoke so as never to be boring.