Islay Night

Lots of peat in this picture

Manchester Whisky Club loves little more than a hefty dose of peat, and member Damian obliged for us in October by selecting half a dozen exceptionally smoky drams from Islay for us to try.

Caol Ila Moch

We began with Caol Ila, easily the island's biggest distillery by production volume, and a bottle of the Moch. The folks there say it's the first time they've released a single malt based on taste rather than age.

There was definitely a sweetness to it and it was only very lightly peated, we felt. So light in fact, some wondered whether it may have come from a refill cask. A hint of peat then but not loads, but having said that it was "lovely" too. A "nice opening dram" with some frutiness about it as well. It's 43% and we paid £60.

Bruichladdich

A rather more premium bottle for number two. In fact, with a price tag of £275, this was probably the most expensive dram we've ever had outside special premium events. Damian picked it up from Bruichladdich at the Feis Isle festival on the island, and it was a bottle called The Ternary Project, the first of what is being billed as a series of super-experimental whiskies from the brand.

A blend of all the different Bruichladdich stuff, including Port Charlotte and the mega-peated Octomore, this was "amazing" and "mad". Smooth then moving into a remarkably deep and long aftertaste, including a very ashy and smoky hit at the very end. "It's got no right to taste as good as this" suggested someone, as it was such a mixed up, Frankenstein-type whisky. It's 52.1%. At that price nobody was exactly pulling out their phones to order a bottle, but we were all glad to have tried it nevertheless.

Port Askaig

Whisky three took us to Port Askaig, the brand name used by Whisky Exchange founder Sukhinder Singh to showcase his own stash of peated expressions from various distilleries on the island. This was the Sherry Cask, and we thought it was probably a Caol Ila.

It smelt more winey than sherry on the nose, and we also got some vanilla on there. Quite interesting on the palate, not very peated and with a definite hint of almond and marzipan. Could be the sherry the fighting the peat, we speculated, with each taking the edge off the other one a bit. At 50.5% this was £58.50, so a bit more within the budget for most drinkers. A smooth one, again.

We had the opportunity to refill our other glasses downstairs at the Seven Oaks during the break, before returning for part two.

Ardbeg Smoketrails

And straight into another hat-trick of peaty drams, starting with something from one of the most popular Islay distilleries, Ardbeg. A full litre travel retail bottling this, called Smoketrails.

Raisins in peat we got here. Very smooth again, only lightly peated, with distinctive notes of hazelnut. Not everyone in the club's an Ardbeg fan, but "this is one of their better ones" was one comment. It's 46% and we paid £72 for that bigger bottle (so about 50 quid pro rata).

Ardnahoe 5yo

If Ardbeg is one of the better established Islay names, Ardnahoe is one of the newest, founded in 2018 amid the growing whisky boom which now seems to be dissipating somewhat. The good news from the industry's expansion years is we've got a lot of good whisky coming on stream for us to try for the first time.

In our hands was a five-year-old, which set us back £85, so a fair bit for something so young. Not so much on the nose, we felt, and no real hint of the fact it clocks in at 61.1% in terms of strength. Very tasty on the palate, though. While undoubtedly young, it really packed a punch, powerful and very nice. Orange sherbet was one tasting note, while others felt a splash of water gave something along the lines of candied nuts.

To finish, perhaps the most distinctive of all Islay distilleries, Laphroaig. A favourite of many at the club and something of a gateway whisky to the island's pleasures, the particular bottle we had was the 2024 Feis Isle release of Cairdeas. A blend of a couple of earlier releases, drawn from a mixture of port and white wine casks.

It came with a decent reputation as club members in attendance had "a good deal of this" on the day. Delicious, we felt, in the slightly colder light of a Manchester autumn. Nutty, peaty, raisins. It was £85.

So, the dram of the night voting, and only the opener picked up no votes at all. But the clear winner was the Bruichladdich Ternary Project, with 13, as you might expect from its large price tag. The Laphroaig was second with the Ardnahoe third.

Thanks to Damian for running a tasting for the first time, to all club members and guests for attending, and to the Seven Oaks for hosting another successful evening for us.