Irish Peated Single Malt 1991/2014, 22yo, 48.6%, 6th Release, 116 bottles only

My husband and I experienced an epiphany upon tasting this UNDISCLOSED Irish “Peated” Single Malt whiskey a few months back and we said to ourselves that we absolutely need to grab this cask too. It will be difficult to sway the hardcore scotch drinkers but I’m sure this Irish whiskey is an eye-opener.

One should know that the same laws that govern the Scotch whisky industry are applied to Irish whiskey too. They are indeed some similarities between these two and in the last few years, the Irish whiskey industry has made tremendous quality whisky by going back to pure pot still, triple distillation and also small batch productions.

The top Irish single malt whiskey is just as good as many Scotch single malt whisky and therefore I decide to release this bottle to increase the awareness of great tasting whisky distilled outside of Scotland to whisky aficionados.

In this whiskey, I found a nice menthol aroma, tropical fruitiness and a hint of warm dough in an oven. The peat is very refined, mellow and subtle. A very inviting whiskey indeed. No regrets.

A not-so-known distillery in the Speyside region and located within a few hundred yards from the Strathisla distillery is Glen Keith. It was founded in 1957 by Chivas Brothers. Originally the distillery had 3 stills which was designed for triple distillation but in 1970 they switched to double distillation. It was very unusual for a Speyside distillery to have a “Lowland” set-up. The new stills were a novelty as they were the first gas-fired stills in Scotland.

In 1999, the distillery was mothballed and then it was sold to Pernod Richard in 2001. And in 2013, the distillery was revived. And ever since, the production has been doubled.The output of the distillery was originally used in blends such as Chivas Regal, Passport and 100 Pipers but Chivas Brothers also used it as a laboratory for innovations in production and processing.

The first real official bottling released was the Glen Keith 1983. And then later, it was replaced with the Glen Keith 10 year old. Most of the Glen Keith released today are from the independent bottlers and that is what makes this distillery interesting.

I was very lucky to stumble upon this leftover cask of just 48 bottles. Upon the first sip, I knew I had to get these leftover bottles. It was fruity and citrusy. The most important point is that I can drink this dram after dram.