Torabhaig Club Reserve (Peat Elite) cask #603

THE HOLY SPIRITS VIEW

A Torabhaig Club Reserve, released only to the distillery’s Peat Elite members, so it rarely reaches a shop shelf. Heavily peated Skye spirit distilled in April 2018 and matured in heavy-toast virgin American oak, from a single cask of just 263 bottles. Ours is bottle 218. It pairs one of the island’s smokiest new distilleries with a very assertive oak.

THE DISTILLERY

Torabhaig sits in a converted farmhouse on the Sleat peninsula of the Isle of Skye. Production began in 2017, making it the first new distillery on Skye in nearly two centuries, and it released its first whisky in 2021. It is owned by Mossburn Distillers and makes heavily peated single malt.

THE WHISKY: TORABHAIG CLUB RESERVE (PEAT ELITE), CASK #603

A single cask of heavily peated Torabhaig, distilled in April 2018 and matured in heavy-toast virgin American oak, from the Club Reserve No. 4 release. Cask strength, 60% ABV, non-chill filtered, no added colour. 263 bottles, this one is number 218.

TASTING NOTES

Peat smoke first, charred wood, caramel, warm spices behind, a whisper of sweet toasted coconut. Roasted nuts, vanilla and cinnamon on the palate, dark chocolate and clove from the toasted oak sitting over the smoke, the peat holding its ground throughout. Finish long, smoky and spiced, with clove lingering.

Serve: Neat, in a Glencairn glass, with a few drops of water to open the spice at this strength.