Eades Double Malt Islay (1st Edition)

So normally I’d blather on about my weekend, make something up, or write another “spooooky” story or some such thing, however this whisky is going to need the preamble.

Special thanks to /u/usquebaugh_ for giving me the chance to try this dram.

So. Eades Double Malt Islay – 1st Edition is quite the odd duck. First off, it’s not a duck, and what could be an odder duck than not a duck?

This whisky is made by the Virginia Distillery. Well, not really. Kinda?

Told you this was going to be difficult.

Alright. The Virginia Distillery, which is opening up next year, have a line called the Eades Double Malt. They asked Jim McEwan to put it all together, and now we have this blend.

So, in this case, they blended together the following to make this different dram:

• 60% Bowmore 9 year old finished in Guigal Cotes Rotie casks
• 40% Caol Ila 8 year old finished in Ridge Zinfandel casks

Wow, thems some words, ain’t dem!

Okay, let’s break this all down some more:

Guigal Cotes Rotie: This is a red wine, owned by the Guigal estate, from the Cote-Rotie region that the Estate. They use a blend of 96% Syrah and 4% Viogner. Those are grapes.

Ridge Zinfandel: This is a Zinfandel from Ridge Vineyards. Since they have tons and tons of Zinfandel wines, I don’t know the make-up. It’s from Sonoma Valley.

So, to finish up: Jim McEwan was asked by an American company to put together two young Islay malts (Bowmore and Caol Ila), and before he blended them he finished them in two different wines, one a new world wine cask and one an old world wine cask.

Confused? So am I. Let’s just see how it tastes.

Price: N/A in Ontario

Region: Blend

Abv: 46%

Colour: Golden brown

Nose: Strawberry, peat, mushroom, pear, lemon cake, sea salt

The Zinfandel notes and the red wine notes are so evident that I’m not even blunt enough to say what they are like.

There’s a really nice balance here between sweet notes, salt and earth. Also, it smells better than any young, low Abv. Bowmore that I’ve ever had.

Taste: Peat, mushroom, mint, lemon, ash, salty, peach/grapefruit

Yup, this is from Islay, in case… you know, I was illiterate, and had amnesia and had trouble remember things I already knew.

It really does taste like cigarettes, which could be polarizing. I liked it, my wife did no at all.

Finish: Cocoa, Sprite, raspberry, chocolate covered dried fruit, smoke, nutmeg

I love this finish. I’ve been off sweets, after being on less sweets, for months and months, and tasting chocolate made my eyes roll back into my head.

It set off some happy places, and it’s all the nice mixture of sweetness.

Conclusion: So it’s a mixture of two distilleries, one of which I’m not a fan. Yet it’s a blend that tastes really great. There’s a lot of different flavours, all mixing together to make a good dram. This is a must buy.

84/100

Scotch review #207, Blend #14, Whisky Network Review #305