The Ileach Peaty Islay Single Malt 40% ABV $35 Website What the Bottler Says For centuries the stormy waters of the Atlantic Ocean has not only shaped the character of the people of Islay but also the character of their famous whiskies. In many ways this fine malt mirrors the character of Islay people – strong yet gentle, warm yet mellow, but with a maturity beyond its years. Robust peaty, with that unmistakable breath of the seashore, The Ileach is “a true man from Islay”
Tasting Notes: Nose: Earthy smoky peat and salty ocean Breeze Palate: Pungent peat smoke, chewy sweet malt, pepper, tar and a touch of iodine Finish: Long and warming. Smoky ashes of the peat fire
What Gary Says Nose: Bright peat, medicinal, seaweed, earthy, subtly sweet, charred oak, notes of rubber. Palate: Sweet, young malt, honey, hint of vanilla, bit of pepper with earthy oak notes, thin. Finish: Short and drying. Comments: This is a mystery single malt – allegedly from the same source throughout (the reason I used the 50 mL picture is because this is what the bottle I bought looked like; in case anyone knows of variations based on labels). It has a pretty nice nose for a young malt, and by the nose I thought maybe Laphroaig. The palate was a bit of a step back though – thin and not as nice as the nose. I bought this mini as I’d never heard of/seen the label before, and it was inexpensive. For the price, there are other single malt bottlers I’ve tried and enjoyed more for less. Rating: Average
Exclusive Oak Stave Selection – Tower Wine & Spirits 55.25% ABV $70 Website
What the Distiller Says
At Maker’s Mark, our wood-finishing series was created to explore new, unique expressions of our signature whisky. Beginning as fully matured Maker’s Mark® at cask strength, Private Select is created by adding 10 custom wood finishing staves to each barrel. It’s then aged in our limestone cellar to extract a unique, flavorful taste profile. Participants in this special barrel program get their say in the selection of these wooden staves. The finishing staves can be any combination of five flavor profiles chosen especially for this program. With 1,001 possible stave combinations, each expression of Private Select has a customized finish and taste profile that is unique, yet undeniably Maker’s®. Maker’s Mark Private Select® is available in select markets and also at our distillery.
Below are the notes on the different staves The Maker’s 46® stave: The one that started this whole experiment. It delivers notes of dried fruit, vanilla and spice that you may be familiar with if you’ve tried Maker’s 46. The Baked American Pure stave: Baked American Pure is American oak that’s slowly toasted. It adds notes of brown sugar, vanilla, caramel and spice. The Seared French Cuvée stave: Seared French Cuvée is a French oak stave that’s cooked with infrared heat. It imparts toasty notes of oak and caramel. The Roasted French Mocha stave: Roasted French Mocha is French oak cooked on high in a convection oven. It adds pleasant traces of char, maple and cacao. The Toasted French Spice stave: Toasted French Spice is a French oak stave, cooked at both high and low temperatures in a convection oven. This stave has a flavor profile of smoke, coumarin and spice.
The finishing with the additional staves is typically 9 weeks.
This specific barrel’s stave selections were: Baked American Pure 2: 3 Seared French Cuvée: 1 Maker’s 46: 1 Roasted French Mocha: 4 Toasted French Spice: 1
What Gary Says
Nose: On the sharp side, nutty caramel corn with cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla; subtle wood and leather notes; bit of water brings out more spice notes (reminds me more of a rye mashbill bourbon in terms of spice pop). Palate: Bright/sharp and sweet, vanilla wafers with caramel drizzled, shaved chocolate and toffee with a dusting of cinnamon; bit of water actually thickens the mouthfeel, tones down the sharp edges, amplifying the caramel and bringing subtle fruity notes. Finish: Moderately long and drying, with just a hint of pepper spice. Comments: This particular bottling has more of an edge and kick than standard Maker’s Mark – which you might expect with the higher proof alone. The finishing staves do add a really nice spicy character that I don’t pull out of Maker’s Mark typically. For the longest time, Maker’s Mark was a one label producer, which was the exception. But since coming out with Maker’s 46 just a few years back, they’ve stepped up their game with not only the cask strength, but these private selections. Most distilleries have a private barrel program, and while true that each barrel is unique – if you pull a barrel of say Buffalo Trace (for illustrative purposes only, not to single them out)- that barrel was destined to be part of a batch of Buffalo Trace, so in many cases it isn’t going to be too far from that brand profile. The 1,001 stave combinations really provides purchasers the chance to get something even more unique than the typical private barrel selection. While I applaud this innovation, I do wish they offered some aging “tiers”. I get logistically they need to have some predictability, but I can’t help but think what the same stave combination would do with say 12 weeks versus 9. I dunno – maybe they experimented and found too fewer than 9 and you’re not really getting much, and much over there it changes the profile from being “Maker’s Mark finished with” to something entirely different. Either way, if you’re a fan of Maker’s Mark, I wouldn’t shy away from trying one if you have the chance.
