AN ORCADIAN PEATZERIA

We imagined, on a cool autumn evening, walking in Hobbister Nature Reserve with that magical mixture of sea cliffs, saltmarshes and moorland. Lovely, perfumed smoke from an almost unadulterated clean spirit, surprising given its age, nevertheless stunning! Add a little water and we found ourselves in a ‘peatzeria’ with the aroma of dough in a wood fired oven. The two pizzas we ordered were, one with dry cured smoked salmon pieces, peated mussels and Buffalo mozzarella, the other gorgonzola, Parma ham, honey and seaweed. In 2017 we combined selected hogsheads before returning the single malt to a variety of different casks to develop further. This is one of those casks.

KISSING A PEAR

Aromas delicately embraced a lavender bush and sweet perfume before caressing the soft fruits of papaya, pineapple and pears poached in vanilla syrup. A lively streak of quince jelly skimmed over raspberry jam and rhubarb crumble with vanilla custard as we discovered deeper notes of fermenting apples and sugar coated fennel seeds. The palate gently warmed with fresh ginger dipped in brown sugar whilst carrying a creamy mouthfeel reminiscent of buttery shortbread. A fruity glow gently nuzzled mango, mandarin and pineapple as the connections approached perfection. All that remained were lychees and cinnamon buns with a scoop of peach sorbet giving a lively fizz that rounded out an exquisite and harmonious finish.