New Taste for Winter

With winter in full force, it's a good time to enjoy (or try!) a peatier whisky. Something a little fuller and heavier is just the thing to enjoy after all the shoveling we've endured already, not to mention today's ridiculously low temperatures. Who said winter has barely started? And when you talk about a peaty, smoky whisky, you know that it comes from Islay.

If you ask whisky drinkers, they'll tell you that Islay is more than just an Island!

It’s a style, a flavor, an ideal, a destination steeped in history and folklore and a nirvana for fans of the smokier style of Scotch whisky.

The Big Smoke was created to blend malt whiskies from some of the islands most iconic distilleries, and then bottled at a relatively young age in its most rugged form. This whisky is reminiscent of traditional Islay malts, full of peat smoke and coastal sweetness, powerful yet caressing, everything you would expect from a blend that includes Caol Ila, Bruichladdich and Ardbeg.

The Big Smoke 46 (46% ABV) gives a gentle introduction to the Islay style. The bonfire and seaweed characteristics you would expect are wrapped up in layers of sweet vanilla from the fresh American Oak.

The Big Smoke is peaty on the nose, with fragrant wood, sweet barley and salty caramel. Vanilla, peat, charred oak, barley and nutmeg meet on your palate, leaving a long, spicy, nicely briny finish.

Duncan Taylor's The Big Smoke 46 is available in limited quantities at Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge.