Fleurieu Distillery Cartoon Lurve Single Malt Australian Whisky (700ml)

Tasting note: A limited release of 300 hand-numbered bottles, this deep amber to topaz coloured malt conjures aromas akin to peated Highlanders. Wood smoke more than maritime peat, follow in a mouthfilling and beautifully rounded whisky that belies its high ABV. Earthy, sooty notes combine with thick oily malt. The finish carries a thread of juicy sweetness, leaving you with gently smoked barley. Recalls young Bruichladdich at its best. Bottled at 52%. Non chill filtered.

Distillers, Angela and Gareth Andrews explain the quirky back story involving two peated barrels ‘Popeye and Olive', named after the cartoon characters created by Elzie Crisler Segar in the 1920s.

“Sometimes love is found in the strangest of places. The chance meeting of a one-eyed muscle-bound sailor with waif of a girl the shape of a toothpick sparked a truly unique relationship. Popeye and Olive were two peated whisky barrels filled on the same day – and named after these two cartoon characters. There is never any guarantee the whisky from barrels named after couples will end up in the same bottle. Sometimes though, there is that certain magic and the whisky from Popeye and Olive certainly had this for us. And as Celine Dion so aptly puts it, if you are truly in love you’re not in love, you’re in “lurve”.

Other reviews... Gold Medal – Craft Spirit – American Distilling Institute Awards 2020

Notes from the producers... "hints of gentle smoke and sweet iodine on the nose", with the palate offering "an interesting balance between sweet smoky toffee and wisps of toasted walnuts plus overtones of dried stone fruit."