Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire & Sherry Casks

10yr / Batch 01 / 56.3% / Undisclosed Islay distillery

A big-hitting sherried dram with an injection of Isay peat? Well yes, sign me the hell up.

I spotted this bottle in a shop while I was on holiday recently. To be honest, with branding like this, you can't really miss it on a shelf. I didn't buy it.

Then I did some research, panicked a little about not buying it, and went back to the shop to buy it. And am so glad that I did.

The whisky has been released by Atom Labs and is from an undisclosed Islay distillery where the whole lot has been finished in sherry casks (and not just a portion of it)

The branding is quite quirky as well "Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire & Sherry Casks & Cask Strength" A mouthful, but makes perfect literal sense!

Appearance: Deep polished maple. Slow waxen legs.

Nose: Balsamic vinegar, smokey bacon, gentle sourness, dark honey, unripe bananas, leather, damp air, and burnt sugar. What a combo!

Palate: Sweet and thick with a beautiful balance of peat. Smoked rashers of bacon drizzled with maple syrup, pistachios, and glugs of unctuous sherry richness explode in the mouth. Undiluted, the warmth is just right.

Finish: Long with sweetness and peat dancing around the palate happily. A final wisp of ash on the exhale.

Conclusion: Absolutely brilliant. As simple as that. A total bullseye hit on sherry and peat. What these guys have done with the balancing of this whisky is just sublime.

Master of Malt has just about summed it up when they say: "Gosh, this really is yummy" I can't really top that. It really is. If you see a bottle of this, don't ignore it!

Available for around £75 (at the time of writing)