2005 Claxton's Warehouse No.8 Inchfad (Loch Lomond) 16 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

'Inchfad' is an island in the south-east of Loch Lomond, home to a ruined distillery. As a whisky, it was released by Loch Lomond in the mid-2000s as a heavily peated variant. The distillery now only uses the name internally for one of the many distillates produced at the multi-functional plant. Nothing has been released under the Inchfad name for some time now, except by indies. This is the darkest whisky in Claxton's latest shipment. The smoke is understated, but the sherry influence is profound. The nose opens dry, with walnut shells and cocoa. Dates, mocha and sweet spices gather definition and intensity. Flavour wise, this delivers all the rich winey notes sans sugar overload. Raisins, fruit cake, bitter peels, dry Demerara rum and chocolate linger. It's a clinic on how to handle a potentially aggressive barrel, even if the malt itself feels somewhat secondary. The result is comparable to Glendronach (the cask strength single cask stuff), but at a fraction of the price. 72 bottles from a Pedro Ximenez octave. 45.7% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered.