Port Askaig is the Elixer Distiller single malt whisky brand that highlights peated whisky from Islay. However, this particular release from earlier in the year, is from a distillery in the north-east corner of Islay, better known for its unpeated whisky. That’ll have to be Bunnahabhain then 🙂
Distilled in 2004 and bottled at a respectable 45.8 percent, this particular release is a vatting of 11 first-fill bourbon casks.
Port Askaig 14 Years Old (45.8%, Elixer Distillers, 2018)
Nose: Relatively subtle notes of smoke, accompanied by dried seaweed and cow dung. There’s some tinned pineapple juice, as well as licorice, banana and a whiff of ozone.
Taste: Ash-y, somewhat drying, and quite salty too. There’s plenty of smoke, a whiff of rubber, and licorice too, with a hint of milk chocolate and some caramel sweetness.
Finish: Lingering rubber and almost medicinal peat. Long.
Score: 86
Not bad, not great, but simply good peated whisky, that won’t blow you away, but’ll definitively satisfy your peat needs.