Review 001 – GreatDrams Islay Batch 2

So we have just relaunched our website, mostly because I managed to delete the whole thing! But also it was getting out of date and a bit boring! So we beginning again, and what better way to start than to pour a dram and share it with you all. But of course the million dollar question is which dram to start with. I decided to go with not only a favourite of mine, but an award winning whisky!

In the end it wasn’t that hard to choose and I went for the GreatDrams Islay Batch 2 release that has won the Double Gold at the World Spirits Competition and rated 98/100 by the IWSC, who awarded it the Gold Outstanding Medal… their highest medal award.

This whisky has been matured in a First Fill Bourbon Barrel for 7 years. It was distilled in October 2013 and bottled in August 2021. Its origin is a mystery, though we know its from Islay and it has that mystical and magical taste one would expect from a dram from here. The ABV is 48.2% which for GreatDrams is a common theme with many of their whisky’s giving the drinker a full punchy flavour without blowing your socks off or hitting you in the face with a damp fish.

Now I know that Islay whisky is not everyone’s favourite but this is one of the finest and most subtle Islay drams I’ve had the good fortune to try. There is a wonderful balance between the smooth vanilla and citrus notes and the warming spice and cinnamon that gives it a lingering finished.

As it is 7 years old you get plenty of the peaty power coming through because the influence of the peat is greater in younger spirits verse the wood of the cask that affects it much later.

Overall, I can see why this is such a winning dram and why I have more than one! Another brilliant find by the team at GreatDrams.

Cheers