Tasting Notes: Vault City:Neon Raptor: DDF M*rs Bar Monumental Imperial Stout

Vault City:Neon Raptor: DDF M*rs Bar Monumental Imperial Stout (Scotland: Imperial Stout: 15.5% ABV)

Visual: Black, fizzy initially then still. Thin brown dash of a head.

Nose: Nutty. Tempura batter. Butter. Crushed peanuts. Milk.

Body: Thick and viscous. Chocolate liqueur. Peanuts. Strawberry crème. Buttery. Vanilla cream.

Finish: Oily sheen. Chocolate liqueur. Peanut butter. Buttery. Whipped cream. White sugar. Nougat.

Conclusion: Ok, first up, we have to examine how exactly does this emulate a double deep fried Mars bar? I am asking the big questions here. Don’t lie, we all know that is the part you were wondering about as well.

It mostly seems to work by making it more buttery in feel and flavour, or so it seems to me. This has big buttery energy that feels like it comes through more as lighter tempura batter than the thick batter you would expect, but, you know, close enough, right?

Its also milky, but more importantly very sugary sweet – which isn’t in any batter that I know and yet seems to hang around in the more batter and milk side rather than the more Mars bars side, tying it very close together which is a tad odd so thought best to mention it.

So, apart from that, you have heavy chocolate liqueur notes and lots of nutty character, peanuts especially – slightly oily with a very viscous character that makes it almost sickly sweet – so, yeah Mars bar, but even sweeter if you can imagine that.

So, that is kind of it – it has big flavours but not big range. It does very well in emulate its inspiration in being a terrible idea, and yet one I am glad to have tried, and will never try again. The only unusual element that does not match the theme is a slight strawberry crème mid body, unexpected, not a huge element buts pops out of the sweetness now and again.

The odd mix of buttery notes over the very sweet chocolate and nutty notes make for a cloying mouthfeel and flavour, probably works best as half the can, as after that the thick buttery flavours get sweeter and overpower everything else.

Does exactly what the can describes, for better or worse.

Background: Ok, I admit, I bought this as it is trying to replicate the Scottish “delicacy” of double deep fried Mars bars as an Imperial Stout. That sounds such a terrible idea I just had to try it, despite the fact this was quite the expensive one. The description is quite the item, so to quote directly

“We wanted to create a true representation of Scotland, away from the tired cliches and usual tropes you might see on TV. A bold and unique idea was needed to showcase Scottish culture in all its glory…

Then we thought, screw that, let’s brew a double deep-fried m*rs bar imperial stout and make it 15.5%.

Deep fried m*rs bars are as synonymous with our country as haggis or Iron Brew, and we wanted to bring this dessert to life in a beer. With Neon Raptor’s help we packed it to the brim with chocolate malt, cacao nibs and an authentic deep-fried taste from adding battered m*rs bars right into the mash tun.”

I mean that is an utterly terrible idea, no? So yes here I am drinking it. Another one from Independent Spirit, drunk while listening to the Celeste OST for some chilled tunes to help mellow out the high abv beer.

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Tasting Notes: Lagavulin: Offerman Edition Batch 3: Charred Oak Cask: Aged 11 Years

Lagavulin: Offerman Edition Batch 3: Charred Oak Cask: Aged 11 Years (Scottish Islay Single Malt Whisky: 11 Years: 46% ABV)

Visual: Deep gold. Fast thick streaks come from the spirit.

Nose: Beef barbecue and ribs smoke. Tarry and oily. White chocolate touch. Toasted teacakes. Charring. Sherry trifle. Drying. Liquorice touch. Toasted burnt marshmallow. Water make smoother. Lightly peppery. Light menthol. Pencil shavings.

Body: Dry. Oaken. Charred. Dried beef slices. Soot. Charcoal. Dry smoke. Burnt brown sugar and caramel. Sweet red wine. Cherries. Cake sponge. Milky chocolate. Water adds vanilla, lots of sherry trifle and overdone steak.

Finish: Tannins, cherries. Red wine. White chocolate. Dry liquorice touch. White wine air. Thai seven spice. Raisins and sultanas soaked in port. Water adds a menthol touch and dried beef slices.

Conclusion:Ok, let’s get this out of the way – this isn’t as good as the Lagavulin 16, nor the Distillers edition. Then again nothing is. Those two whiskies are nigh perfect drams – it is the curse of every other Lagavulin expression that they will end up being compared directly to those two. They are going to end up being compared to nigh perfection being sold at a cheaper price, so, ouch.

So, with that taken as a given, the real question is, does this earn its spot by being a different enough enjoyable Lagavulin expression? And the answer to that is simple, yes.

So, first the disappointments. The thing that makes it not work as well as the 16 for me is its drier, less chewy body – that mouthfeel and weight is a big part of what makes the 16 work so well for me. It is not as slight as the 8 thought, which while I did enjoy, definitely needed more body.

What does it do well? Well it has so much range – from sweeter toasted teacakes and white chocolate light undertones that give a sweeter touch of Lagavulin you don’t see often, to massive red fruit, red wine and red spirit range that makes this richer than most Lagavulin – and combined makes for a bit of a different take, while still being Lagavulin.

Water helps smooth it all out and reduce its dryness, but also kills all the remaining chewiness in the mouthfeel. Generally water improves it though, letting the spirit roam even more – but does also bring a menthol touch that doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the spirit.

So, what about that base of a good Lagavulin – the peaty smoke and chewy dried meat vibes? Well, it has a lovely range of smoke, from soot, to charcoal, charring, and just peat smoke in general. Water soothes that which is a pity, but does give a lot in return.

Similarly, while the mouthfeel of this dram is not as heavy as I would like, there is a tasty dried meat character, not as big as the 16, but there – again lessens with water.

Overall, not the 16, nor the Distiller Edition, we have already established nothing is, however it is recognisably Lagavulin and has a delicious range to work with. Well worth it if you already have the 16 on your cupboard and want something different.

Background: I missed the first two Offerman edition Lagavulins, much to my chagrin, especially as one was Guinness Cask finished which sounds epic. So I 100% had to grab this one when I saw it. Nick Offerman played a character in Parks and Recreation that was a huge Lagavulin fan, and I take it the actor is as well, so this little team up happened and I am very happy for it to have done so. This was aged in a mix of American and European oaks casks (so I presume bourbon and red wine casks), but have been heavily re charred before being used to age the whisky. Not as unusual as a Guinness Cask finish I will admit, but still an interesting one, and I do so love Lagavulin and try to sample as many expressions as I can. It is described as a perfect match for a medium rare steak. Something I will have to test at a later date. This was grabbed direct from malts.com which I think may be the only place it is sold. I am not 100% sure of that. I went with Ghost: Meliora as backing music.

Tasting Notes: Ardnamurchan AD/10:22: Madeira Cask Release

Ardnamurchan AD/10:22: Madeira Cask Release (Scottish Highland Single Malt Whisky: 6 Years: 58.2% ABV)

Visual: Lovely deep gold colour with medium speed thick streaks coming from the spirit.

Nose: Christmas pudding. Brandy cream. Plums. Vanilla fudge. Warming. Lightly salty. Salted fudge. Pencil shavings. Water adds menthol, green grapes and a peppery character.

Body: Fudge. Warming. Dry oak. Madeira cakes. Sugared orange. Lightly waxy. Fatty butter. Peppery. Water makes smoother. Thai 7 spice. Sultanas. Apricot and apricot syrup. Apples.

Finish: Drying. Madeira cakes. Pencil shavings. Port soaked raisins. Vanilla toffee. Light dry, black liquorice. Thai 7 spice. Sweet orange. Menthol. Water adds peach syrup and sultanas. Slight sulphur and smoke.

Conclusion: This is a surprisingly complex dram for something that must be quite young based on how long the distillery has been open. I was expecting it to be very Madeira led and the cask strength combined with youth making it a bit burning before water.

So, basically neat I was expecting some strong flavours but fairly simple. What I got was this initially booming with plum pudding/Christmas pudding notes along with associated spirity cream notes. A delicious start. It is warming but not numbing, it is dryer Madeira cake style in the main body as the alcohol strength does make it pretty drying overall but along with those spirit and vaguely Christmas themed dessert notes there are also a good set of woody notes and peppery spice as grounding. A tad more than what I expected and definitely not as burning, but generally in line with expectations and decent. It feels stewed fruit thick, drying and very heavy. There is a waxy touch and some fatty butter feel giving it some nice play in mouthfeel, but the dryness limits how much it can express that. Then you add water, and this is when things get surprising and very interesting.

The texture is smoother and shows that waxy and fatty better mouthfeel much better. What is the big change is the peach, apricot and associated syrup notes that come out,which I presume is spirit character as it sure isn’t the Madeira. There is still spice, dark fruit and such but now with a real soft, sweet fruit against it. It is an impressive balance and a radical change from what I expected.

It is spirity, fruity, and with a tiny smokey note despite being an unpeated spirit, it may be more a sulphur note, but it is there. Lots of spicy character comes in there, and with that a fatty butter sheen that makes for a very distinct mouthfeel.

This really shows what the spirit can do and I hope for more like this as the years pass as I am very impressed.

Background: Well, this is one that vanished quickly from stock. I’d been told it had been getting some buzz so picked one up quickly. Then took until now to finally do notes on it. I am not lazy honest. My first encounter with Ardnamurchan was interesting but not a must have, but had enough that this Madeira finished release definitely was one I wanted to try. There were 5,781 bottles of this cask strength, unchill-filtered release but they still vanished quickly. It is using their unpeated malt, and a quick google says it spent five years in first fill bourbon then one year in Madeira hogsheads so I’m guessing six years full age unless there are rounding issues at play .This was grabbed from the ever helpful Independent Spirit and drunk while listening to the Best Of Mel and Kim album – feeling a bit 80s pop throwback at the moment.

Tasting Notes: Berry Bros & Rudd: Williamson (Laphroaig) 2014

Berry Bros & Rudd: Williamson (Laphroaig) 2014 (Scottish Single Cask Single Malt Whisky: 7 Year: 61.8% ABV)

Visual: Moderate brightness gold with slow thick streaks from the spirit.

Nose: Oily. Hot tar. Kippers. Peat. Cooked barbecued pork and barbecue sauce – ribs. Sticky. Medicinal jelly. Camomile. Charred touch. Peppercorn. Wholemeal bread with extra grains. Water adds ash and dry smoke. Hot car engines.

Body: Oily, then drying. Peaty boom. Malt chocolate. Brown bread. Dry raisins. Dry medicinal spirit. Water adds dry beef slices. Bitter red wine. Hints of red fruit. Cherries.

Finish: Brown bread. Malt chocolate drinks. Nutty to praline. Peppery. Tarry. Dry camp fire ash air. Water adds a rum spice touch.

Conclusion: Ok, this is a heavy, heavy, tarry, peaty beast of a whisky. The easiest comparison I can think of is with the Ardbeg Wee Beastie which has similar youth and massive peat, but this is a much stickier oily beast – less straight peat and yet still matching overall in intensity.

Neat it is sticky and tarry with heat and a very barbecue themed meatiness. There is that Laphroaig medicinal character, but surprisingly it is more at the back due to that weight that the kipper like oily smoke style brings. What medicinal feel there is comes across more as a medicinal salve oiliness rather than the cleaner medicinal image of standard Laphroaig. So, this is big is what I am saying.

Neat the oloroso barrel ageing is there but easily lost in the mix. A HEAVY dose of water lets it really come out, bringing red wine, red fruit and such – still not a dominant force, but adding very much appreciated sweeter notes to the brutal edged peat oiliness of the rest of it. Here there are even darker sweet notes going from chocolate to praline in a way that most Laphroaigs don’t have a way to express – again it barely offsets the weight but the darker sweetness complements rather than clashes.

Not a whisky for everyone, or even a whisky for any time – it is so thick and gripping with the intense flavours. However when you are in the mood for it, it is amazing. It doesn’t unseat the Douglas Lain XOP 18 Year single cask from its seat as favourite Laphroaig ever – that is a much more polished beast, this is the sticky unrestrained beast. However this is about a third of the price and still amazing and distinctive quality that you tend to only find in very special single casks.

Brutal and great.

Background: Ohh I had heard a lot about this. Williamson is the name used for these independent bottlings of Laphroaig spirit – and they have a very good reputation. Sometimes released as single malts, sometime teaspooned (a single teaspoon of another whisky added to a barrel so it is not technically a single malt) and released as a blended malt. This one especially had a huge reputation with some very good reviews coming in and recommendations from friends so I succumbed and grabbed a bottle. Cask strength, one of 449 bottles from cask 05057 – a Oloroso sherry cask. This was grabbed from Independent Spirit who managed to get a good chunk of bottles of it in, and was drunk while listening to Godspeed You! Black Emperor – G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! That album works so well with big drinks.

Tasting Notes: Brewdog: Jet Stream

Brewdog: Jet Stream (Scotland: American Pale Ale: 4.2% ABV)

Visual: Clear pale yellow colour. A small amount of small bubbled carbonation to the body. Massive white mounded head.

Nose: Unleavened bread. Ovaltine. Choc orange. Light grapefruit freshness.

Body: Frothy mouthfeel. Choc orange ovaltine style. Gritty bitterness. Orange crème. Fresh pineapple.

Finish: Choc orange ovaltine. Gritty bitterness. Kumquat. Slight fresh pineapple. Light strawberry.

Conclusion: It is odd that this is a pale ale, as the flavour actually remind me a bit of the amber ale 5 AM saint. Well one of the version of 5 AM saint, I think it has changed recipe a bit over the years. I mean, on the eye this is very obviously a pale ale – light and clear, but flavour wise the malt load hits a lot different than you would expect.

The flavour is very choc orange but done in a more malted drink style – with Ovlatine being the good go to reference for that. On top of that it has a slightly gritty bitterness doing the main hop work. The bitterness is fairly moderate mid body but lasts just slightly too long and too dry in the finish, making it end just slightly too harsh. The mid body is better done though with a light grapefruit freshness that smooths it and also helps alleviate the dominance of the heavier malt character.

Overall this is a bit of an odd mix – again the 5AM Saint feeling come up, or at least the more malt led version of 5 AM saint that has existed over the years – and it does make the beer interesting. It is a solid beer, the malt is well done, the fresher feeling lightly done do help, but the lead out is not so great. Overall it feels a bit of a disparate mix of elements rather than a coherent beer but not a bad one.

So, not bad, not great, probably better than most beers available on a plane. Probably, I haven’t drunk on a plane for a while – ever since I found out how much faster I get drunk in a pressurised environment!

Background: Deeeep breath. Ok, long time readers may have noticed for all I was a huge fan of Brewdog I have not done much on them for years. Simple reason – we have seen over and over that the owners are bellends and the company treats people terribly. So, erm bias warning. Also bias warning, back in the day I was excited about them I got shares, so I am influenced in that way as well. I will say from the times I have had their beers recently they generally continue to be good, but I cannot be excited about a company that treats people as badly as Brewdog has. So,why notes on this one? Well this is the final gift my mate Mushroom brought back for me, a beer traditionally only sold on airline flights. My wish to show thanks to my mate for the gift weighs higher than my wish not to give Brewdog publicity, soooo, a rare modern day Brewdog tasting note!

Tasting Notes: Vault City: Emperor: From A Gaelic Sea Far, Far Away

Vault City: Emperor: From A Gaelic Sea Far, Far Away (Scotland: Imperial Stout: 10% ABV)

Visual: Black. Still. Thin brown dash of a head. Opaque main body.

Nose: Caramel. Clean medicinal air. Clotted cream and strawberry jam. Dry peat. Crushed custard cream biscuits. Vanilla custard slices. Touch of tarry nature.

Body: Oily. Sweet. Jam. Chocolate liqueur. Liquorice touch. Honey. Oily peat. Praline. Lightly medicinal. Salt touch. Riesen chocolate chews. Heather.

Finish: Praline. Pecans. Medicinal mixed with vanilla. Custard. Riesen chocolate chews. Smooth, oily medicinal sheen. Vanilla toffee. Marshmallows.

Conclusion: The thing with heather honey, and with Islay barrel ageing for that matter, is that they can easily utterly dominate a beer. I’ve had so many ash tray and iodine beers, or so sickly sweet that they lost that imperial stout that is meant to be the base.

This beer manages to somehow balance those two very strong flavours and a huge base imperial stout and somehow keep it all balanced, and as a result have turned out something very special.

The base stout is chocolate liqueur like and yet on the aroma you could swear there is clotted cream and jam notes floating around in there. From the ingredients I can guess what causes the cream like notes, but I have no idea where the jam comes from.

The honey is sweet but against a more oily character that gives a more savoury touch so it doesn’t get cloying. Similarly the oily character makes the medicinal and peat note much more flavoursome than harsh and so enhances the beer greatly.

It is sweet still, with marshmallow like fluffiness, toffee around the base and praline high notes, but the Islay character of peat smoke and oil, as well as those medicinal notes just ooze throughout it – everything matches the other elements so well.

A masterpiece of an Imperial Stout – sweet, medicinal, big and yet measured in all the right ways.

Lovely.

Background: I’ve mentioned Emperor brewing a few times here, basically a brewer trying to turn out the best Imperial Stouts they can, and have a huuuuuggeee reputation. I don’t think they ever do solo beers, or at least any I have seen, they always seem to be collaborations. Vault City are another big name, better known for doing odd and experimental sour beers, but they turn out the odd big stout as well, of which this is one. It is made with …. **deep breath** Heather honey, vanilla, lactose, oats and wheat and was aged in an Islay whisky cask. Lot of stuff going on there. Grabbed this from Independent Spirit, I went with History Of Guns: Forever Dying In Your Eyes as backing music. First new HoG album for years and years so was happy to slap on in the background.

Tasting Notes: Glenfiddich: Orchard Experiment (Experimental Series 5)

Glenfiddich: Orchard Experiment (Experimental Series 5) (Scottish Speyside Single Malt Whisky: 43% ABV)

Visual: Pale yellow gold. Slow thick puckering comes from the spirit.

Nose: Apples. Viscous. Cider. Peppery. Vanilla. Honey. Tinned tropical fruit syrup. Water adds menthol and peppermint and some oak.

Body: Apricot syrup. Apple brandy. Oily – a nutty oils style. Alcohol tingle. Oak. Slight drying tannins. Water makes smoother mouthfeel, but still an alcohol tingle. Vanilla custard and toffee comes out along with apples.

Finish: Nutty. Peppery. Tannins. Water adds nettles, oily apple and oily nuts.

Conclusion: Back when I first started drinking whiskey, I was not a fan of Glenfiddich – however I will admit it has massively grown on me over the years. It is a subtle thing with green fruit notes over a restrained spirit and gains well from time in the oak. Something that my more brash whisky enjoying youth did not experience. However, now with a few years in my life I find this, an apple spirit led and finished whisky – that sounds like something that would enhance a green fruit led subtle whisky, right?

So… does it?

Kind of. I feel that either they used comparatively young spirit for this, or the cask finish really layered a rougher spirit touch to the character as this is nowhere near as smooth or polished as the similarly priced and sometime cheaper Glenfiddich 12.

So, if you haven’t guessed yet, this has a fairly rough spirity note- the texture get smoother with water but it still keeps a quite tingly, slightly rough character despite that,

So what does it do right? Lots of apple and apple brandy notes, done in a far less subtle manner than the traditional green fruit of the more standard Glenfiddich but I really can’t claim it doesn’t deliver exactly what is promised on the tin.

However due to that strong influence from the finish a lot of the more subtle green fruit notes are lost, you don’t really get the base Glenfiddich spirit realised much here – instead it feels like the apple brandy influence is layered over a more standard, peppery,tannins touched and nut oils led whisky base. Not bad, but it means that the barrel finish feels less a compliment to Glenfiddich spirit that as a completely separate thing.

Background: So, a whisky finished in Somerset Pomona (A mix of apple juice and cider brandy) Casks. That caught my eye. So far I have had good experiences with the rare apple spirit aged whisky – including an excellent Calvados Highland Park bottling which was one of my earlier set of notes on this site. Anyway, yes, I saw this an Sainsbury‘s and decided to give it a go. With the heat wave recently, I drank this quite late at night when it was faintly cooler – darn the evil day star, Music wise I went with Beast In Black: Dark Connection – My mate Andy recommended them to me (thanks mate) and they are a very over the top, oft sci-fi referencing metal band and a lot of fun so far).

Tasting Notes: Lochlea: First Release

Lochlea: First Release (Scottish Lowland Single Malt Whisky: 46% ABV)

Visual: Pale yellow gold. Fast, thick streaks come from the spirit.

Nose: Thick, stewed fruit. Toffee apple to apple crumble. Plums. Pencil shavings. Sherry trifle. Custard slices. Water adds green grapes, chocolate dust and crushed walnuts.

Body: Thick. Booming oak. Vanilla. Fudge. Raisins. Tannins. Water makes very smooth with a slightly nutty oiliness. Fruitcake. Tinned tropical fruit.

Finish: Light charring. Light bitter chocolate. Peppery. Dry and bitter red wine. Water adds fruitcake and glacier cherries. Milk chocolate, a touch of white chocolate and a nutty character. Some tinned topical fruit.

Conclusion: Ok, I know this must be fairly young spirit – the distillery hasn’t been around that long, only being licensed in 2018, and this was the first release, as the name indicates. Despite knowing all that this has some nice polish to it for its age.

Neat it is slightly closed in the main body, but utterly booming in the aroma, with very little harshness despite its youth and a slightly higher abv that the default.

I am guessing the PX barrel ageing may be doing some of the heavy lifting here, especially in the aroma, but when you hit the body there is a surprising amount of weight from the bourbon as well. There are plenty of vanilla and tinned tropical fruit notes, especially if you use a touch of water to open it up.

However, as mentioned before,the PX brings a lot to the game here – Lots of stewed fruit notes as the thicker aroma of a young whisky meets the dark fruit from the barrel, and yet is smooth enough to make an enjoyable and viscous peak.

Water really helps the slightly closed body start to match that joy of the aroma though. It brings a savoury, oily nuttiness which I’m guessing hints more at the character of the base spirit – I could be wrong, we will see as other expressions come out. Any which way it blends nicely with the shiny, fruity high notes.

Overall it is a very good first release and introduction to the distillery. Lots of promise here and generally worth enjoying just for the whisky it is. Not a must have, especially as this release is starting to get a tad expensive with rarity, but a very nice and polished first release.

Background: Ok, Independent Spirit were bigging this up before it came out, and so I had to grab a bottle. The first release from Lochlea, who kept very quiet up until just before they were ready to release a whisky. As well as coming from the land of Robert Burns, a fact they make a big deal about, they have picked up quite a range of talented people in the whisky industry to work there. I would give names and where from but I lost my notes on that. So, erm, important people. The best. I remember John Campbell was previously at Laphroaig as Distillery manager so that is a heck of a good start. This release was aged in first fill Bourbon cask and Pedro Ximenez casks, natural colour and no chill filtration. Went with some X-Rey Spexs as background music while drinking. No reason, just wanted to listen to again.

Tasting Notes: Cooper’s Choice: Inchdairnie Distillery – Finglassie Lowland Smoke Madeira Finish

Cooper’s Choice: Inchdairnie Distillery – Finglassie Lowland Smoke Madeira Finish (Scottish Single Cask Lowland Whisky: 53% abv)

Visual: Pale, slightly greened grain colour. Very slow puckering comes from the spirit.

Nose: Tarry. Oily. Peat smoke. Cinder toffee. Salty. Fudge. Water adds moss. More salt. Slight crushed rocks.

Body: Thick and oily. Slightly tarry. Sweet red dessert wine. Sweet raspberry yogurt. Slightly drying. Vanilla toffee. Strawberry jelly. Water makes smooth. Sherry trifle touched. Chocolate toffee and chocolate liqueur.

Finish: Tannins. Shortbread. Cake sponge. Peat smoke. Dried beef slices. Madeira soaked raisins to fruitcake. Strawberry jam. Water adds melted toffee to chocolate and vanilla toffee. Oily peat. Tarry.

Conclusion: Ok, after encountering some dead distilleries’ take on a peated lowland and absolutely loving it, I’ve been searching for a modern day, more easily available, peated lowland.

This may not be super easy to get, being from a new distillery with, so far, very few releases, but it is both from the lowland area and fairly heavily peated. So, does it fit the bill?

Well it isn’t a traditional lowland. Instead of that smooth triple distilled light style it is slightly salty and with a thickness that calls more towards Island or Highland than to Lowland, so it didn’t fit that niche I was hunting out. However …

This is still great.

It’s oily, almost tarry in a way that reminds me of some of the heavier Mortlach expressions I have encountered, mixed with those slightly salty, rocky Islay like notes. It is still smooth though, which calls to the lowland origins – and is impressive considering the over 50% abv.

So, I’m guessing even without the unusual cask finishing this would still be a solid whisky, but boy does that Madeira finish make it stand out. There is a vanilla sweetness at the start, but as you get deeper into the whisky it mutates into a sweet raspberry, almost jelly or jam like notes which somehow work so well with that oily peat. The sweetness is understated and yet so rounded and well developed in the character it delivers. It makes for an odd, peaty, oily, trifle like feel – which works better than that sounds.

Neat it is still slightly alcohol touched, which again, this is 50% abv and up that is not a surprise, but water turns that into a very slick drink. It is still peaty and oily, don’t worry on that note, but now the red fruit notes are clearer and the base becomes sweeter and smoother, with choc toffee notes that make it more peaty dessert feel, a heavier sweet note that again works brilliantly with the peat.

It’s genuinely good, the base oily peat spirit is very well expressed and matches well with the almost dessert wine feeling Madeira influence to make an enthralling experience. Not the peated lowland I was looking for, but one I’m glad I encountered instead.

Background: As referenced in the notes, I deeply enjoyed some peated lowland whisky I had tried, that are not defunct, so when I saw this – a new distillery, doing a peated lowland it caught my eye. Looking on their website they seem to be doing a wide range of experimental whisky so it may be one to watch in the future. Doesn’t seem to be many official bottlings yet so was happy to get my hands on this Cooper’s Choice independent bottling. Finglassie or also KinGlassie seems to be the distilleries name for their heavily peated expressions. They also seem to have a rye release which is very unusual for a Scottish distillery. This is cask 409, one of 270 bottles, and was finished in a Madeira cask. Bought from the always great Independent Spirit, this was drunk while listening to Cancer Bats: Psychotic Jailbreak – I’d seen them live a few times and really enjoyed the energy of their live performances but had not bought an actual album of their until now.

Tasting Notes: Holy Goat: Blood Eagle

Holy Goat: Blood Eagle (Scotland: Fruit Flemish Red: 6.66% ABV)

Visual: Hazy cherry-aid red to black cherry centre. Reddened off white medium sized head.

Nose: Cherry yogurt. Wheat flecks. Sour red wine. Black currant and crushed red grape skin. Thick. Strawberry. Brown bread.

Body: Tart. Sweet plum. Sweet red wine. Sour cherry fizzy sweets. Sticky gummed brown paper. Lightly fizzy. Fizzy lemon sherbet. Peppery bitterness. Rye crackers. Black cherry.

Finish: Sour cherry fizzy sweets. Sweet plums. Light tart raspberry. Gummy – Gelatine sweets in general. Brown bread. Bourbon air.

Conclusion: This is very rewarding, with thick gummy brown paper style take on the sticky, sour red Flemish ale at the base but has been filled in every inch with some twist and turn that makes it stand out.

The fruit is the most obvious twist, as you might expect, sweet plums are there, but the sour notes and tart fruit notes are more evident. There is a raspberry freshness and sour black cherry, often in a slightly artificial style that calls to the sour gelatine fizzy sweets that exists. It is gummy in its thickness and the flavours really vinous with lots of red wine and red grape notes hanging around even as the main fruitiness is waning.

Around that is a peppery, slightly bitter character into a brown bread grounding. Savoury in general, slightly spicy, and slightly spirity in a bourbon to rye style. It is a mix of lower grounding notes that bring you down from that tarter flavours, and tells of the alcohol still present there.

So much to examine as you can probably tell, and while the flavours are wide ranging they never clash. If I had to criticise it I would say that the gumminess builds up over time to become very sticky at the end, and a bit too present, but this only becomes an issue at the very end when the more savoury gumminess tends to dominate and the fruitiness lightens.

Overall a very impressive and fun to examine sour beer.

Background: Oh, Holy Goat, I have had a few of these before and have been blown away by them, so I really needed to pull my thumb out and actually do notes on one of them. This one is, ok deep breath, based on a Flanders Red and a British stock ale, fermented with wild yeast, blended with an amber sour that had been aged in rye whisky barrels, then added in blackcurrant and redcurrant that had been used in a prior Flanders red, then a mix of smoked and unsmoked plums – with the smoked plums done on red wine staves – were added in. Follow all that? Because I think I got lost somewhere. Anyway, grabbed from Independent Spirit, this was drunk while listening to Laura Jane Grace and The Devouring Mothers: Bought To Rot.