Wemyss The Peat Chimney 12 Year Old

Exaclty three years ago, I joined a Wemyss tasting, hosted by (then) ambassador Susan Colville. I tried the Peat Chimney 8 Year Old at that time (which did not really convince me), but today I have a sample of the 12 Year Old version in front of me, brought by my friend Marc. The Peat Chimney is a blended malt of no less than 16 different malt whiskies, with a few protagonists from Islay.

It is very promising on the nose. Baked apples and pear drops with some vanilla are immediately joined by wet earth. Hints of ashes. The peat is pretty quiet. The nose is mostly sweet.

While it is very soft on the palate, not much remains of the sweet nose. Now the spices (pepper, ginger) and the peat speak. Well, the peat quickly retreats again. Yes, it falls back to make room for a sour touch. Bunna in the mix? Midpalate it becomes more sweet again. The whole is very soft and quite quaffable.

The finish is mildly smoky on ashes, vanilla and a touch of liquorice.

I do not believe this is better than the 8 Year Old (which was not too great in itself). The peat plays too little a role, making the name Peat Chimney somewhat misplaced. Having said that, a bottle is less than 35 EUR. Thanks, Marc!