McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt Aged 3 Years
Liquid Gold from Oregon
0 495
Review by @Victor
- Nose23
- Taste24
- Finish24
- Balance24
- Overall95
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Distribution of ratings for this:
- Brand: McCarthy's
- ABV: 42.5%
Clear Creek Distillery in Portland Oregon has for fourteen years been making an Oregon version of an Islay whisky, using peat-malted Scottish barley. This review is of batch # WO 9-01, which was bottled August 3, 2009. this whisky was aged for 3 years. In sampling this whisky I have no idea of what to expect except that Jim Murray's current ratings on McCarthy's products both qualify for his "Liquid Gold" status and that the distiller's own description of attempting an Islay style suggests the use of a considerable amount of peating
Nose: peat on the heavy side of moderate, perhaps similar to Caol Ila, malt immersed within the peat, salty, like salted pork
Taste: thick body, sweet and dry balance is sensational here, strong peat in the mouth, salty, a hint of citrus, and a strong backdrop of oak. The complexity is lovely. The flavours here remind me of an amped up Highland Park 12 yr or of Talisker 10, married to Caol Ila 12. This is seriously delicious whisky. Mark my words, you will not believe that you are drinking a 3 yr old whisky if you take a taste of this!
Finish: Strong, long, and delicious. Peat, wood, salt, malt, all stay long in the mouth
Balance: this is a major find. I bought this because I saw a deep discount at my local store and I had remembered that Murray gave this high marks. I can see why. The balance is phenomenal here. I look forward to hearing feedback from my Connosr friends after they have had the excellent experience of having tried this one. Here is what Jim Murray says about McCarthy's 3 yr old in his 2011 Whisky Bible: "This is, unquestionably, the finest bottled whiskey I have tasted anywhere in the world from a small-batch distiller. Only Islay's very finest can out-complex this not so little chap."
Thanks for the review. Looks like everything I look for in a peated whisky, and at a remarkably low cost. I have been trying to track this down for a year or so now, on and off, and it seems to be ridiculously hard to find. When I come across this in a shop somewhere, I do NOT anticipate limiting myself to a single bottle.