Maker: English Whisky Co., Roundham, Norfolk, England, UK
Age: NAS
ABV: 60.9%
Price: $70
Notes: Natural color, unfiltered. Limited edition: Casks 108 & 166.
Appearance: Pale gold with thick legs.
Nose: Lemon pepper, peat, vanilla.
Palate: Full bodied. Lemon Meringue, peat, then burn and a touch of gravel.
Finish: Lots of heat and smoke. Hot but enjoyable.
Parting words: OK, so the name of this one doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but it is delicious. I’ve had English Whisky Co.’s Classic Malt in years past and it struck me as whisky with lots of potential, but nothing impressive. This is impressive. It easily goes toe to toe with entry level peated Scotches without being an imitation of peated Scotch. The sweet citrus notes in the nose and on the palate set it apart from Islay and other attempts at peated spirits from outside of Scotland.
$70 for a cask-strength peated whisky this delicious is a steal. There are only a few bottles left (mine is #405 out of 426) so run to Binny’s immediately and grab yourself a couple. English Whiskey Company Cask Strength Binny’s Handpicked Dual Cask Peated Single Malt is highly recommended.
I finished off a bottle of this a few months ago. I think I’d largely agree with the above: plenty of peat, plenty of power, a little rough, and a name that you can never correctly invoke to tell anyone what the heck you’re talking about.
Binny’s had it on sale for $65 when I bought it, which I thought was a great deal. I’d not be surprised if they drastically mark it down to clear out the last few bottles.
And it’s good that we get a picture in this blog post. Otherwise, buyers might be a bit disappointed that this bottle is NOT the very classy-looking bottle (dragon on clean glass) some some EWC stuff comes in.