Tasting notes by Jim McEwan MBE
Colour - Beautiful Mellow Yellow.
Aromas - A classic Islay opening on Summer barley fields next to the Atlantic Ocean encapsulated in a drift of peat smoke and mellow charred oak complimented by the sweet spiciness from the bourbon-soaked staves. It is a unique coming together of the trilogy of spirits I so happily created with my distilling family and it works beautifully highlighting the skills & character of those Island Distillers.
Palate - The briny peat influence underlines the Islay DNA and it leads onto the nutty sweetness from the charred oak staves & the cereal crispness of the malt extract. The viscosity of the spirit is mellow & mature, warm with a flash of heat, packed with character that comes from the people, the place and the passion that makes Islay spirits truly unique
Jim McEwan’s Master Blender Edition
From the moment we met Jim McEwan to secure his casks, we have been learning! Every call, meeting or Zoom we have learned not just about the whisky we have had the privilege to bottle, but the much wider industry Jim has worked from bottom to TOP!
Jim had often talked with us about wanting to use his decades of Master Blending Experience again to create a quality blended malt. The possibilities which could be created by not only utilising the different cask types he was so fond of (wine, bourbon and fortified wines), but the almost endless combination of spirit styles that could be fashioned from his beloved unpeated, heavily and massively heavily peated single malts, offered a unique canvas!
To celebrate Jim’s award from King Charles III of an MBE for services to the whisky industry and his beloved island of Islay, we thought what better way to celebrate than with a Master Blenders Edition. Crafted using only whisky from Jim’s personal cask collection across the spectrum of spirit and cask types, the MBE edition has been born
This strictly limited release has been bottled at cask strength of 61.2%, natural colour in highly limited quantities, never to be repeated - a one-off made for a one-off. We can’t give you the recipe, not just because it’s a secret, but industry rules do not allow.
What we can say is this is blended to Jim’s exacting standards using only the finest components. You know the provenance of the liquid, now enjoy the result!
Bottled in 20cl bottles to try and stretch this to as many fans of Jim’s work as we can!
