“Well. This whisky has had an unconventional life. But before we get to that let’s discuss the spirit. In the early days we developed our
peating process in a way that allowed us to smoke our barley for longer, giving it much more aroma (or as the Scots say, “reek”). I’ve always enjoyed the soft, earthy smoke of this expression, but to taste it ramping up a bit is very exciting. This is the smokiest Flinders Island peated release we have brought out so far.

This spirit went into barrels in July 2020. Those casks we had sourced were some amazing and rare vintage Seppeltsfield sherry barrels. Over 50 years old, meaning a great integration of oak and fortified wine. But, the timber was SO old that they actually ruptured during maturation. I was walking around the bond store and just saw the barrels leaking through a crack in the stave.

We had to fix the barrels right away, but for us on Flinders Island, this means shipping them across the Bass Strait to the cooper, waiting for the repairs, then shipping back. A 6 months process and I just didn’t want to waste that maturation time. So I decanted the spirit into what I felt would be a complementary barrel, an American Oak ex Makers Mark Bourbon barrel.

So what we have here is a Flinders Island Peated Double Oak, ex bourbon and vintage sherry. It’s a flavour bomb, big rich dried fruit and toffee nose with a tack of smoke, complex but really balanced palate, sweet and juicy, and really oily. The finish is where we the Flinders Island peat smoke comes through, salty, earthy and lingering through the finish.”