PUNI Alba Italian Single Malt

Here's something you don't see every day - Italian whisky! I don't know much about the PUNI Distillery, except that it's Italy's first whisky distillery and sits at the feet of the Italian Alps somewhere. It's also a very cool looking place (the building is a giant cube) and the bottle is gorgeous. This expression (ALBA) is three year old malt whisky matured in a combination of Marsala and Islay casks. It is non-coloured and non-chill-filtered.

The colour is a light-to-medium gold. Very complex on the nose: the peat is there but in front of it are big fruity notes like baked apple, honeydew and dates, plus roasted almonds and walnuts. Honey. Cinnamon and cloves - kinda Christmas-y. Some oak but not that much. Water brings out some seaside air. The malt is there though the casks do overwhelm a bit - still, very intriguing.

The palate has a bit more peat going on, with melon, green banana, brown sugar and more oak than was on the nose. Very nutty as well - Brazil nuts this time, with a bit of caramel. Slightly creamy mouthfeel - creamier with water, which also adds more oak and smoke.

The medium length finish is toasted oak, black pepper and roasted nuts. This is a very curious malt that somehow works to bring together what are usually disparate notes - lots of fruit, nuts and peat all co-existing fairly harmoniously. I think this could have used a few more years in cask, but for a three-year-old whisky, it's pretty great stuff.