Rich and Earthy

As is the case with many or most Connosr members, the big peat also appeals to me. Malt gets earthiness from peat. I would still tell such a friend to drink something like Caol Ila. He wants earth, so there it is, though much less pungently so than from the whiskies from the three Kildalton distilleries. If I wanted rich and earthy, but with NO smoke, I would leave the malts altogether and drink Van Winkle 13 yo Rye Whiskey. Rye is much earthier than barley.

Maybe this would fit. I have an Aberlour 16 yr old double cask and "Rich and Earthy" best describes and tags it so. They use a sherry cask (rich) and a bourbon cask (earthy) to age the whisky. You probably knew this already so please forgive me my mistake. One last comment for what it is worth. Down here in Texas that homemade bourbon, we call shine, can get some kinda "earthy" and iif you happened to have sherry then you're rich.