Way back in May of 2018, we attended a John Milroy Selections tasting at The Union League of Philadelphia which was hosted by The Whisky Sisters (aka Lauren Shayne-Mayer and Gabby Shayne) of Spirit Imports. At this event, we were given the opportunity to sample several expressions from this London independent bottler with whiskies ranging in age from as low as 3 years old to well over 20 years old. As expected, it was a super fun event with ample time to speak with Lauren and Gabby about all that was on offer.
At the end of the event, The Whisky Sisters were kind enough to gift us the bottle of our choosing. While there were many tasty drams to choose from, it was the 3 year old expression from an undisclosed Islay distillery that won our hearts that night, so that's what we decided to take home as our parting gift of sorts with the understanding that we would review it on the blog (so sorry for being tardy, Ladies!).
Staoisha is what they are calling the distillery where this whisky was made. Beyond some tasting notes, there isn't all that much information about this whisky on the John Milroy website, but the fine folks at K&L had plenty to say about it. Here's what they had to say..
An astonishing whisky in so many ways. We've tasted young peaty whisky many times and while it can sometimes be delicious (I'm thinking Kilchoman here), it's typically much more neutral and spirity than you'd expect. The peatiness can take many years to really poke through, especially when you've got high proof and powerful malt to hide behind. This goofy whisky, however, is exactly the opposite. It's a true peat bomb even at this young age. But that's not all - the dense, ashy smoke is tamed by robust sweet malt and some hints of salty fruit. This is an impressive whisky by any account, and while it will by no means be in anyone's top five, I'll challenge anyone to name a more interesting and drinkable cask strength peater under $35 that's even half as good. I'm not sure what they're doing over there at the bay north of Port Askaig, but there's definitely something amazing happening. We can only pray that we'll continue to see such affordable and delicious whiskies coming out of Scotland in the future.You already found out that we agreed with K&L when we said that this was the whisky that won our hearts at the John Milroy event, but what about our tasting notes? To hear all about our impressions of this whisky, click the play button to watch week's episode of A Tasting at The Murder Table.
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Many thanks to The Whisky Sisters for gifting us with this super tasty whisky!
Categories: Booze Dancing TV, Booze Review, Staoisha, The John Milroy Selection
Tagged as: A Tasting at the Murder Table, Booze Dancing TV, Drinkwire, Liquor, Review, Reviews, Scotch, Staoisha 3, The John Milroy Selection, The Whisky Sisters, Whiskey, Whisky
