Review / Bimber - The 1st Peated

This whisky is the inaugural bottling of peated single malt from the London-based distillery of Bimber. The 1st Peated is entirely composed of spirit from the distillery's first ever peated run, which took place in May 2019. Just four ex-bourbon barrels have been selected for The 1st Peated by founder and Master Distiller Dariusz Plazewski. The whisky has been recorded as having an 'in bottle' reading of 14.4PPM (Phenol Parts per Million). It has been released at 54.1% ABV and was available via ballot only on the Bimber website in November 2022. There were just 1,140 bottles with each costing £130. They are going for at least double this amount on current whisky auction sites.

Review / Cù Bòcan 12 years old

This whisky is the latest addition to the core range of innovative peated Highland single malt Cù Bòcan (pronounced koo-bock-an). The Cù Bòcan 12 years old features spirit that is matured for a short period each winter at the Tomatin distillery near Inverness. The new bottling features part-maturation in ex-rum casks sourced from the Caribbean. These have come from Barbados and Guyana in particular. Prior to that, maturation was in ex-bourbon barrels. The whisky is released at 46% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour, It will be produced in small batches annually. The Cù Bòcan 12 years old will be available in selected specialist whisky retailers worldwide and will cost £65/ $US80. 

Review / Bladnoch Alinta

The Alinta is the latest addition to the core range of the Lowland distillery of Bladnoch. It is the first known smoky expression in the distillery's history. The spirit was distilled from peated malt that is produced for just a short period each year and accounts for under 10% of all spirit made there. Alinta has been matured in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels and first-fill ex-Pedro Ximenez casks. The casks were hand selected and married together by Dr. Nick Savage, the Master Distiller at Bladnoch. The word 'alinta' translates as 'fire' or 'smoke' from indigenous languages found in southeast Australia and references the heritage of David Prior, Bladnoch's Australian owner.

Review / Benriach Smoke Season

This whisky is a limited edition single malt that celebrates the 50-year heritage of producing peated spirit at the innovative Speyside distillery of Benriach. The Benriach Smoke Season is a small batch release designed to showcase the spirit that uses malt peated using Highland peat, which has been distilled for a short period each year since the early 1970s and remains a rare practice for a Speyside distillery. It has been created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach, and features peated spirit matured in toasted virgin American oak casks and first-fill ex-bourbon barrels. It is said to be the most intensely peated Benriach ever released. 

Review - Smokehead

Smokehead is an Islay single malt brand that is owned and bottled by Iain Macleod Distillers. The company also own the Glengoyne and Tamdhu single malt distilleries, and are currently renovating the fabled Rosebank distillery after almost 30 years of closure. Smokehead was first released in 2006 and stirred up the whisky category at the time with its then unconventional look and contemporary packaging. This has since had a revamp a couple of years ago. This whisky carries no age statement and is from an un-named distillery on the famous whisky island of Islay. There is much speculation as to which distillery it may be - tap it in to a search engine if you do not believe us.

Review - Cù Bòcan Signature Malt, Creation #1 & Creation #2

Cù Bòcan is the peated single malt brand from the Highland distillery of Tomatin distillery. The name comes from a local legend in which the Cù Bòcan, a ghostly canine-like creature, appears and causes havoc once every generation before mysteriously disappearing in a puff of blue smoke.

It has been on the market since 2013, but a major relaunch was recently announced. The relaunch involves new bottle designs and packaging, designed by Thirst Craft to 'show the qualities of the contemporary spirit', along with two new core range products. Cù Bòcan is produced using lightly peated Scottish barley for a short period during the winter months each year at Tomatin.