Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire & Sherry Casks & Cask Strength 10 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Peat and sherry are a great combo, and if you've tasted similar expressions from the Elements of Islay range, you'll already know that the team behind Atom Brands tend to do it very well. This is understood to be the cask strength version of the Seaweed & Aeons 10 year old Sherry Cask edition, featuring the same smoky Islay single malt, though instead of just 25% of it being finished in sherry casks, the entirety of the whisky was. Around 1200 units are offered per batch, this one landing at 54.9% Alc./Vol. and bottled without chill filtration.

Other reviews... [Batch 2 tasted] This one is full sherry finished. Colour: orangey amber. Nose: a notable gear shift, this is much creamier and displays a more velvety smokiness. Resinous hardwoods, smoked teas, verbena, eucalyptus, tea tree oil and smoked meats. The sherry sits behind the peat and doesn't feel too jarring, it's rather more about wood spice and peat smoke together I would say. With water: softer spice tones, coal dust, bonfire embers and this impression of medicinal herbs. Mouth: a similarly easy arrival, all on soft wood spices, smoked teas, sweet peat smoke, natural tars, wood resins, putty and aniseed. More impressions of herbal cough syrups and things like hessian and wormwood. I like it a lot but it strays very close to being a little too wood-dominant for me. With water: not too sure with water, I think it loses a little definition and the alignment between peat and wood goes slightly awry. There's still plenty of sooty and peaty 'oomph' about it though. Finish: rather long, all menthol tobaccos, bitter herbal extracts, spices, liquorice and tar. Comments: this one veers about quite a lot. Lots of emphatic, peaty pleasures to be had, but for me the wood is a tad too much here. However if you enjoy this rather creamy, spicy modern wood-forward style then you'll probably have a blast. Quite clever wee concoctions these Seaweed things, I would say. 86 points - whiskyfun.com

Notes from the bottlers... Nose: Oatcakes, vegetal peat, hot Ribena, assorted BBQ meats, molasses, clove-studded orange, and just a hint of chocolate mousse. Palate: Cinder toffee, cinnamon, peat still shining through, a slow build of red grape and jammy raisin, with some citrus lift. A subtle touch of singed hay later on. Finish Meaty malt returns, with warm oak in support. The red grape tannins continue and last on the finish. Overall: A top expression that shows what can happen when peat and sherry meet without clashing against each other.