Port Askaig

[Tim F]

Hello chaps,

Our sister company, Speciality Drinks has just released a range of 'mystery' single Islay malts:

http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2009/ ... alt-range/

Comments welcome

[Nick Brown]

Any clues as to which distillery?

[MacDeffe]

No Clue

Bottles look Ardbegish

Name suggest Caol Ila

Tasting notes sounds like a Highland Park from Bourbon Cask to me but I assume we can outrule that

MacDeffe

[MacDeffe]

I like the Bottle design and labeling thou and I am normally a 100% content guy

MacDeffe

[Nick Brown]

Bottles look Ardbegish

Name suggest Caol Ila

Of those two, I'd probably guess at Caol Ila. I know they do send a lot of whisky to independent bottlers. Someone on Tim's blog reckons it is peated Bunnahabhainn. That would certainly throw people off the scent, but it could be. Question - did they really experiment with peat 25 years ago? Perhaps they have different whiskies in each age statement - hence the generic name.

[butephoto]

Very nice bottlings there. I like the look of those a lot. Perhaps a bit 'Ardbeg' yes, but I love the subtle differences in the landscapes at the bottom of the labels.

They sound delicious too.

[TheTross]

Is it just me, or do the boxes have a similar look to those used for the the annual Port Ellen releases? Not saying that I think Port Askaig is Port Ellen, of course...

They're very smart actually!

[r900p]

Tim,

Did you say TWE were bottling a PE at some point, maybe this could be it but its unlikely we'll find out.

Rob

[Tim F]

Cheers for the kind comments, guys.

Rob, there's a PE in the pipeline for our Elements of Islay range.

[butephoto]

Just spotted the prices on TWE and thank goodness for some sensible pricing! Especially the 25yo.

Linky to TWE »

[les taylor]

Is it just me, or do the boxes have a similar look to those used for the the annual Port Ellen releases? Not saying that I think Port Askaig is Port Ellen, of course...

They're very smart actually!

Could be some Diageo influence here then. Or from the Diageo stables.

[butephoto]

Just had a wee nip of the 17yo and it's delicious. Caol Ila, must be. Sweet, smoky peat. Yum!

[les taylor]

Just had a wee nip of the 17yo and it's delicious. Caol Ila, must be. Sweet, smoky peat. Yum!

Mark that was quick. Good work.

[Tim F]

Glad you like it, Mark! The 17yo is my fave of the three.

[Nick Brown]

Just had a wee nip of the 17yo and it's delicious. Caol Ila, must be. Sweet, smoky peat. Yum!

So do we think they are all Caol Ila or just the 17yo?

[Tim F]

I can tell you that, for this batch at least, all the Port Askaigs are from the same distillery.

[butephoto]

I meant to say I put a note up for the 17yo:

viewtopic.php?f=167&t=1731

I will endeavour to post a note for the 25yo tonight. Tough job, etc...

[r900p]

just been reading the tasting notes on the TWE site and read this...

...'Fresh and exuberant, with coal, lemon and honey all battling for supremacy'.

Is COAL a mistake!, this is just for the cask strenght one but if all three bottles are from the same distillery then i'd stick with Caol Ila as my guess.

Rob

[butephoto]

I have to agree with Tim on my favourite being the 17yo.

[Tim F]

It's a case of 'each to his own' with these things, isn't it. Sukhinder would take the 25yo any day over the 17yo and I think Gordon said that he preferred the 25yo as well. Hopefully between the three expressions there will be something for everyone.

[butephoto]

Exactly, I'm sure many will disagree with us and prefer the 25yo.

[peaty001]

I had the chance to taste the Port Askaig 17yo at the recent meeting of Glasgow's Whisky Club. It is tempting to say given the name that it hails from Caol ila just a mile along the coast but to me it was not typical of the make. On the nose I found dried fruits, wafts of peat and a briny quality. To taste more waves of fruit and gentle peat a little iodine and briny flavours all well integrated. Then the smoke wafted some more peat and grassy bonfire to a long satisfying dry and complex finish. (forgive the fanciful descriptions but it was late in the evening)
I usually find oil and green olives and lively carbolic in with the smoke in Caol ila but this 17 yo was crisp clean and dry which I associate with the south shore Islays.
We did taste some peated Bunnahabhain that same night and it was not in the same league as this although granted it was 6 years younger.
Lots of value to be had in guessing the provenance and it has us talking which is surely what good whisky should do. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it a well made and rewarding whisky. My sister lives in London. She likes a good whisky tip so I sent her to buy a bottle. Excellent stuff. Better make that two.

[Nick Brown]

I'm starting to get paranoid. I started the guessing as a bit of a joke, but it has gone on for so long that I have started to wonder whether people really don't know what the whisky is.

[butephoto]

I'm starting to get paranoid. I started the guessing as a bit of a joke, but it has gone on for so long that I have started to wonder whether people really don't know what the whisky is.

I said elsewhere I would've sworn Ardbeg had I tasted it blind. The fact I know it is called Port Askaig makes me think it must be Caol Ila. But I would still say Ardbeg. Gordon Homer seems to agree. But it can't be.

[Nick Brown]

Of course it's Ardbeg. The bottle is supposed to look like Ardbeg. The labelling has Port in tiny letters and majors on the A and G of the six letter word. The flavours are Ardbeg. The ages are right for Ardbeg.