DISTILLED IN 2014, BOTTLED IN 2023

The most common casks used for finishing are undoubtedly ex-sherry casks (the best known being PX & Oloroso). These types of casks give the whisky a dark color and a multitude of sweet aromas. The longer the finish lasts, the more the color and flavors change.

The 10th release also received a finish, not in an ex-sherry cask but in the cask of a previous bottling, namely the Caol Ila 2016 that was launched the year before. Caol Ila is peated whisky, but Strathmill is not. This type of finish is therefore described as "peated by maturation", meaning that the peat flavor does not come from the distillate, but is acquired via the cask in which the whisky was matured or finished.

This Strathmill – bottled at 57.2% (cask strength) – immediately releases a layer of brininess & peat in the aromas, pushing the original grassy Strathmill character into the background. On the palate, this is amplified even further, although it has ultimately become a rather gentle peated whisky.

NOSE:
Apple, hints of citrus/lime, but also briny and sweet due to the Caol Ila cask.

PALATE:
The Caol Ila character now bursts forth. Again some citrus. In the distance, still some of the grassy, vegetal character of Strathmill.

FINISH:
Long! The peat flavor lingers pleasantly for a long time.