Croftengea 15 Year Old 2005 Klubb23

Last summer I tried my second Croftengea ever. Who would have thought I would try my third so quickly after that? This one was selected by the boys from Klubb23 and has The Wolfman on the label, again a reference to a classic creature film, as they also did with their Deanston. Funny. FYI: Croftengea is one of the heavily peated malts produced at the versatile Loch Lomond distillery.

Oh, my, this one stinks! Bog, burnt rubber, cow pat. It takes quite some time before I get some vanilla, white fruit and thyme. Bay leaves, used leather, a forgotten dirty tea towel. It takes guts to bottle this, if you ask me.

It’s slightly better on the palate, mostly sweeter on candy floss and mint, vanilla and white fruit, but mostly something umami that I cannot quite pinpoint. The peat offers a warm smoke development that saves the day. The second sip even becomes near pleasant.

The finish is long – too long to my taste – warm, smoky, sweet and herbal.

Exciting whisky, but it was very difficult to get past the nose. If the full moon doesn’t transform you into the Wolfman, then a good dram of this whisky certainly will.

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