THE INLAND SHORE

PEATED

CASK No. 122.46

$210

REGION Highland

CASK TYPE 2nd fill bourbon barrel

AGE 12 years

DATE DISTILLED 21 November 2008

OUTTURN 222 bottles

ABV 59.3%

AUS ALLOCATION 48 bottles

Our noses picked up Germolene and Tiger Balm, prawn shells and crab claws in bonfire embers, Turkish delight and sherbet lemons and Frazzles dipped in motor oil. Our palate descriptors included fly cemeteries, liquorice, tobacco strands, char-grilled peppers and roasted chestnuts; beer and salted pretzels – a lovely sweet and smoky combo. The reduced nose made us think of roofing pitch, Van Nelle Halfzware Shag, leather goods stalls in Andalucía and toffee apples dropped in ash. The palate now – hickory-smoked hotdogs with English mustard, fruit pastilles and lemon zest, sweet rice paper and an aftertaste of coffee grinds, tobacco and ash.

REGION Highland

CASK TYPE Refill bourbon hogshead

AGE 15 years

DATE DISTILLED 22 March 2006

OUTTURN 277 bottles

ABV 53.6%

AUS ALLOCATION 42 bottles

The panel encountered a particularly savoury and crisp peat smoke at first. Then plenty of fresh, coastal salinity, smoked olive oil, preserved lemons, citrus air fresheners and sardines charred over hot wood embers. Water brought a zing of hot acrylic, warm vinyl, sandalwood, umami paste and a hint of seawater. The neat palate opened with bath salts, fragrant dried herbs, cured white fish, bacon frazzles and finally a waft of more grubby, organic peat coming through. Reduction added layers of complexity that suggested sheep wool oils, rock pools, dried seaweed, mineral oils, umami pasta water and an increasingly sharp saltiness.