The Peat Monster Review

I’m a big fan of The Peat Monster and have been for a long time. It’s the perfect example of the balance and beauty that can be found in a well crafted blended malt.  And if there’s one thing the folks at Compass Box know how to do, it’s blend malt.

This newer release is made from a blend of 64.7% Caol Ila (Refill Hogshead), 35% Laphroaig (Refill Hogshead) and < 1% of their signature Highland Malt Blend (Custom French Oak). They picked out multiple styles from Caol Ila, 4 sub-versions in total, which you can see on their incredibly informative website.

The Peat Monster – Details and Tasting Notes

Whiskey Details

Region: Scotland

Distiller: Various (Caol Ila, Laphroaig, “Highland Malt” (60% Clynelish, 20% Dailuaine, 20% Teaninich))
Blender: Compass Box
Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley
Blend: 64.7% Caol Ila, 35% Laphroaig, <1% Highland Malt Blend
Cask: Refill Hogshead, Hybrid Barrels (ex-Bourbon w/ French Oak Heads)
Age: NAS
ABV: 46%

Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

Price: $58

Tasting Notes

EYE
Light honey

NOSE
Crisp and sweetly smoky, malty, fruity, herbaceous and spicy with light notes of honied caramel, citrus, banana malted milkshake, Birthday cake and candle wax.

PALATE
Banana cream pie, malty and fruity sweet, caramel, smoke, Birthday cake with vanilla frosting and dried candle wax and touches of nuts, minerality coffee beans and spirity notes.

FINISH
Long -> Sweet, smoky, malty, earthy and touch plasticy.

BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Great, medium, light oily warm.

The Peat Monster – Overall

Aroma is freshly made birthday cake, waxy blown out candles and all, with layers of fruity sweetness, citrus and mild earthy notes; Palate carries that same birthday cake note, with vanilla frosting and a touch of candle wax, profile but carries more earthy minerally, smoke and fruity notes; Finish loses the birthday cake notes, but not all the sweetness, and doubles down on the earthy phenolic profile.

This is still good, I remain a fan after all these years.

The Peat Monster – Final Thoughts and Score

This isn’t a whisky you need to think about, a whisky you need to covet or horde, but it is one that deserves a place on anyone’s shelf who enjoys peated whisky or likes making smoky cocktails. This is a whisky that’s good in the glass and great in a cocktail.

It has a simplistic beauty that moves from fruit to candy to pastry to earthy to smoky to coastal to industrial to elegant profiles. It doesn’t have a ton of depth and feels a tad light and topical, but that doesn’t stop it from having a diverse delivery. The Peat Monster is a tasty whisky and I hope more people continue to discover it.

SCORE: 3.5/5

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