Ailsa Bay 1.2 Sweet Smoke 48.9%abv 30ml

Lowland single malt from Ailsa Bay - a new distillery built on the site of the old Ladyburn/ Ayrshire Single Malt Distillery which is more or less part of the Girvan Distillery Complex. This complex of distilleries is massive and makes blended whiskies such as Grants and Monkey Shoulder as well as Drambuie liqueur and Hendricks Gin. The distillery complex looks across Ailsa Bay to Ailsa Craig a monolithic granite island which has unique stone that was originally the only stone that could be used to make curling stones for the sport of curling.

This is the newest core release from Ailsa Bay released in 2018 which increased the sweetness levels compared to the first release.

Official Tasting Notes:

Nose:
FRESH WOOD SMOKE WITH NOTES OF SMOULDERING DAMP HEATHER AND AN EXTINGUISHED BONFIRE. FOLLOWING THE SMOKE IS A WAVE OF OAKY SWEETNESS AND VANILLA OAK, CANDIED ORANGE PEEL.

Taste:
BEAUTIFULLY BALANCED PEAT AND RICH VANILLA OAKINESS, THIS SECOND BATCH HAS MAINTAINED THE SAME INTRIGUING FLAVOUR MEANDERING BETWEEN SMOKE, FRUIT AND CREAMY TOFFEE, THIS EXTRA MATURATION PERIOD HAS DEVELOPED DEEPER TOASTY OAK NOTES WITH EVERY SIP.

Finish:
AN INTRIGUING BALANCE OF OAKY SWEETNESS AND PEATY DRYNESS.