Favorite peated whisky outside of Islay?

i've had some wonderful peated benriach expressions recently. fantastic, top quality stuff.....

I've got bottles of Ardmore Traditional Cask, Yoichi 10 (Nikka's Hokkaido distillery, which uses a peated malt), Peat Monster (a blend of Islay and non-Islay peated whiskies) and Arran Machrie Moor (Island) that I've yet to open, although I've had Peat Monster on other occasions and found it quite lovely.

Peated BenRaich can be very solid.

I gave a bottle of Curiositas to a buddy and joined him for just one dram. It was quite good in a non-remarkable way. I only had that one hurried glass, though, so I never got used to it enough to discover whether the peat was concealing Speysidish flavors waiting to get teased out.

I'm current working through an independent bottling (Signatory) of heavily peated BenRaich distilled in 1994. This is great great stuff. Dry, ashy, smoky, and fresh all at the same time. The empty glass smells absolutely awesome.

I agree with the BenRiach and Ardmore Traditional Cask (maybe the sweetest peaty one I've had). I especially enjoyed the BenRiach 21 year old Authenitcus.

Others I like include Jura Prophesy, Edradour's Ballechin # 6 Bourbon Cask, Longrow (all), Springbank (subtle peat), Arran Machrie Moor (more subtle yet, Batch 1 was especially notable), Benromach Peat Smoke Batch 4 (a real peach of a non-Islay peaty whisky), and Ledaig 10 (the drag strip malt: burnt rubber and all).

+1 Ardmore 'Traditional Cask'! I don't think of it as an essentially peated 'drop', just a beautifully balanced, delicious, affordable Whisky that speaks to me. If I had to design a Whisky, this would be my model, without question: Occasionally, I might like to see a couple of more years on the particular bottle I have open, not often though and the freshness of younger casks is part of its' charm.

Slainte!

Though only moderately peated, I love Talsiker for it's complexity, and the wonderful mix of peat and hot pepper that is singularly unique! I've tried and recommend both the 10 and 18 year old expressions. I was less than impressed with the Distiller's Edition, which took on an odd BBQ flavor that dominated over the pepper and peat. I'd love to try 57°North and the new Storm releases, but they are not readily available in the US market yet.

Has anyone tried McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt? It's been compared favorably to a young Lagavulin in taste and complexity! It's made from peated barley imported from Scotland, and it's a very smoky whiskey that is unlike anything else made in the US!

So far, Yoichi 10 is my favourite outside of Islay and Scotland. That peat is so silky and fragrant. I'm sure that style exists in other Japanese malts which I'm yet to experience, but definitely keen to.

Within Scotland, the Longrow CV comes pretty close.. yes it's only a stone's throw from Islay so I don't know if that counts. But it is delicious.

There are many non-Islay peated malts I still need to try - for instance it's a crying shame really that I haven't tried the Bakery Hill Peated Cask Strength yet. It's very high up on my list of "next" purchases. As an Aussie, I have no excuses to not have tried this yet!

Highland Park 12 and 15 would be my choice for non-Islay peat. Both have peat there but being from Orkney it's slighty different peat. Hope this was helpful. :)

Tough call, but I would give the nod to Talisker 10 just slightly over Highland Park 12 and Springbank 10.

I love HP 18. It's a monster for unique Peat.

Corsair Distilling and Balcones both make American whiskies that are smoked (usually with a hardwood like oak or cherry, not peat).

@WHSKYLVR Interesting, but do they even leave the state? I see Corsair also makes hopped whiskey by distilling Imperial Russian Stout beer with hops hanging in the still. Wicked...

Highland Park 12, 15, and 18 yr expressions.

My favorites are Benriach Curiositas (Speyside) and Longrow CV (Campbeltown). Amrut Peated (India) is very good too.

@JoeVelo Very curious about peated Amrut

I personally loved the peated Limeburners expressions that I've had, very delicious and full of sweet peat. Not really heavy on any medicinal tones, but oodles of delicious peat. I've yet to try the Bakery Hill Cask Strength Peated whisky, but just like Systemdown it's on my to do list. I've heard nothing, but good things about it.

I also love Hakushu's peated whisky, one of my favorite whiskies that I've had. Again soft peat with lots of lovely aromas and flavors that I find I associate with Japanese whiskies. Ichiro's Chichibu the peated is another peated whisky that I recently got a chance to try and found really nice and fun.

Benriach 12 Aromaticus Fumosus,Peat Monster or some Highland Park,what a wonderful world of whiskies!Slainte!

@MacBaker62...McCarthy's is one of my favourite non-Islay peated whiskies as well!! I get a BBQ sauce note a lot of the time that works (at least for me) really well with the peat and smoke.

@two-bit, great description of Ledaig 10!...another favourite of mine for its tarry (though not 'skunky') peat intensity.

@PeatyZealot...have you had the Connemara Turf Mor? A unique 'farmy' style of peat that is the a very worthwhile experience.

I am a peat freak as well, and outside of Islay my favorite peated Scotch is Brora . . . which is like saying good luck. It is expensive and hard to find. And the later 70’s and early 80’s stuff can often be very unpeated. Still, when you find a good one . . . it is the best of the peated whiskies in my opinion.

Still, Brora aside . . . I have to agree with many of the suggestions already mentioned: BenRaich 10yo Curiositas can be really good (I have had some bottles that were amazing and others that were decent).

Ardmore Traditional Cask is a nice mild peated malt for the money

Longrow can be nicely peated as well (but often I am disappointed)

Still these are all in the “Bowmore – Caol Ila” peating levels.

To get up with the big boys (Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin) you need to try something like Ballechin which has been peated to over 55 ppm

McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt is also nice and peaty (if a bit too young and raw)

Peated Amrut Cask Strength 62.8% from 2010 was amazingly peated! Wish I could find it again.

Good luck on the peat quest

Nock

If you are in Australia, try the Bakery Hill peated edition (get the cask strength). Wonderfully peated and rich.

@PeatyZealot Not sure about international, but if you live in a state that allows liquor shipments you can order online from Binny's or Drink Up NY.

@Pudge72 It sounds really interesting indeed :)

I would certainly recommend the Highland Park options. Others would include the Peat Monster, and some of the FANTASTIC craft distilleries here in the USA like Corsair and Balcones.

Another outlier could be 'Peat Chimney' by Wemyss Malts.

Talisker 18

Hello, Sir! In terms of "Peated" bourbon or rye, I don't know of any. However, I do know that Corsair, an American Micro distillery, has a Corsair Triple Smoke. It's composed of chocolate malted barley, chocolate malted rye and malted barley and has been smoked in cherry wood, beach wood and peat. It's not briny but it picks up a fun smoke. As far as Japanese whiskys, they do use peat in some of their line. With Nikka, for example, the Phenol Parts Per Million can be light with the level 4 ppm to heavily peated of 35-50. I've had the luck of trying a heavily peated Yamazaki... but in terms of smoke, I find the Hakushu 12 year to be light in smoke, but still enjoyable. It has a bit of a lime-smoke profile, whereas the Yoichi 15 has a smoke-orange zest note. Both of them are mild but still complex. I am reminded of some of the Ledaig when I sip Hakushu and Yoichi because of their lightness. Arran Machrie More is lightly peated at 14 ppm.

As far as Amrut, I like it but it's definitely different. They're sourcing the peat from Islay and it starts off at 50 but once the peat lands in Inda it drops down to 35. The barley in India has a sweet, fruity profile, so I defintely get a raspberry note and an undertone of smoke that hits the base of the neck. My friend didn't like it, but I liked it because it wasn't traditional to my palate. Peated Longrow is solid...I trust anything coming from Springbank company :D Hope that helps! What are you planning to buy?

I hope I'm not being redundant, so I do apologize if you already knew this kind of information...as a rule of thumb, if you like something super smokey, it's USUALLY (Not always) good to get something that's younger in age and at cask strength or at least 92 proof. Typically when something sits in the barrel for a longer period of time the PPM drops. A great example of that is the Oban 14 vs the Oban 18; you can definitely see a difference in smoke intensity between these two bottles.

Uh..okee...yar... Oh wait. I just remembered. Highwest Campfire uses malted barely, rye and peated malted barley. I can't remember the exact mashbilll ratio but I do know that one is smokey and Highwest is from Utah. The master distiller, David Perkins, does a great line of products. :D

okee....i guess i'm done now. YAR~!

@BlissInABarrel Awesome as always BinB you rock lots of good stuff in your contribution to this thread. Have not heard from you in a while glad you are here. :)

@PMessinger aw shucks ! Thanks! I'm still trying to study and work on my confidence in talking about Whisky do thanks for the encouragement. I always feel like I don't know anything.

I think some of the best are the fumosus series from BenRiach. Nevertheless they are topped by the Solstice (2nd edition) from the same distillery.

+1 for the Ardmore TC. Got a bottle last year and it was the bottle which helds my actual record for clearing a bottle (and I am not in a haste with my whisky bottles). Only took a few weeks. Really superb stuff and especially for that price tag. And it is really a special taste, very "earthy" in my opinion. I definitely have to get another bottle!