Van Wees Celp, the seaweed experience

Iana McClannaghan lived on an 18th Century Islay. She mixed herbal drinks for medicinal use and allowed local seaweeds to infuse her home made uisge beatha. She turned 99, which was extremely old for that era. This urban legend inspired the Dutch company Van Wees to bottle this Single Islay Spirit. They were not allowed to use the word whisky on the label, since they added some seaweeds to every bottle, which is of course forbidden by the SWA. The result is a spirit drink with an obnoxious green color.

The nose starts on a lot of, well, celp! And peat, obviously. Oyster sap. Midly salty. Underneath lurks sweetness in the shape of apple and maybe even some sugared lime. This is not even half bad. Nice balance.

It is quite oily and peaty on the palate. Mighty salty too. Brackish, even. Black pepper and lemon juice. Midpalate it turns sweet on coconut and cocoa, no kidding! And yes, the seaweed can be found in the taste. Nice smokiness. Quite pleasant and warm.

The finish is long and spicy with loads of salt at the death.

It is a public secret that this is in fact 6 years old Laphroaig (despite many rumours that it would in fact be Lagavulin). Around 40 EUR. Not great, but certainly better than expected. If you get past the crazy colour, that is.