Adam’s Notes

What a strange little oddity we have here. The folks at & Whisky won gold for two of their whiskies at the 2023 Global Whisky Masters – one for a ten-year-old Islay called “Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire”, and another for a thirty-year-old grain whisky called “Butterscotch & Vanille & Toast & A Generation”. So they did what any sane whisky maker would do – blend them together at a 50/50 ratio! Absolute madness.

What results is a whisky that feels straight out of the 1980s. A classic peat-forward blended Scotch that is reminiscent of the old recipes of Black Bottle and Teachers. The low abv only adds to this comparison, making for a very approachable whisky, which, while it may feel a touch thin to some more seasoned drinkers, still manages to showcase a breadth of complexity.

The smoke comes through as a classic Caol Ila profile, though I’m not sure if that is the distillery it uses. Very much the bacon-wrapped scallops profile that many have come to love from Islay’s biggest distillery. But it’s tempered by some lovely soft grain flavours from its well-aged counterpart – almost pastry-like. Makes me want to try a bacon and scallop croissant!