October 30, 2025 • 16 mins
Clifton closes out Bourbon Boos 2025 with a bang — and a cloud of smoke! 💨 This week’s spooky pour is Smokehead Islay Single Malt Scotch, a bold, affordable peated whisky that just might be the surprise of the series. For under $40, does it hold its own against bigger Islay names?
Plus, new whiskey announcements from around the world: 🥃 Heaven Hill’s Grain-to-Glass Specialty Barrel Series 🌴 The Glenlivet 12-Year Jamaica Edition Rum-Cask Finish 🪵 A Midwinter Night’s Dram Act 13 and Old Overholt Cask Strength 12 Year
Tune in for peat, price talk, and one last Halloween pour that proves not every spooky bottle is a trick. 🎃
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey everyone, this is Clifton. Before we get into today's episode, I do want to say I had a bit of
(00:04):
a technical difficulty with today's episode. I recorded a couple of additional news stories,
but for some reason they became corrupt during the export. So not sure what happened there,
so I'll save those for next week. Nothing pressing, nothing too crazy, but just wanted
to let you guys know why today's episode is a little bit shorter. But yeah, stay tuned,
this should be a fun one. Today on the Bourbon Bytes podcast,
(00:27):
I'm sharing new whiskeys from across the industry, including Heaven Hill's new
Grain To Glass Specialty Barrel series, a Glenlivet aged in Jamaican rum casks,
this year's new release of a Midwinter's Night Dram, and more. Plus I'm doing my final
'Bourbon Boos' review of Smokehead Single Malt Islay Whiskey.
(00:59):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Bourbon Bytes podcast. I'm your host Clifton,
and this is the week of Thursday, October 30th, 2025. We are entering our final week of my bourbon
boos series, and this week we have a whiskey that is actually a whiskey, believe it or not.
This week we'll actually be reviewing an Islay Single Malt with a very spooky logo on it,
(01:23):
but we have some whiskey news to get into first before we do the byte-sized review.
As with previous weeks, we are going to list off a ton of new and upcoming releases that
were announced this month, and many of these I am very, very excited for. I'm just going to
dive right into it with the first one that hit my inbox earlier last week actually, and this is the
(01:44):
new Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Specialty Barrel series. Now as with the original Grain to Glass
series that came out a while back, each release begins with corn seed varietals chosen annually
in partnership with Beck's Hybrids, but this year they are taking it a step further with a barrel
selection that complements the corn type. So with the help of the Independent Stave Company,
(02:07):
Heaven Hill's Master Distiller selects a barrel. This year they chose chinkapin oak, which we've
been hearing a lot about. A lot of releases are using chinquapin oak these days, but they say this
is a rare white oak native to Missouri that was chosen for its unique character, and it's going
to be available for all three of the releases, including the Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey,
(02:28):
the Kentucky Straight wheated bourbon whiskey, and the Kentucky Straight rye whiskey. I think the
most recent whiskey that I've had that's used chinquapin oak has been the Shenk's Homestead
from Michter's, and I think it does have a significant impact on the flavor of the whiskey.
Would I choose it for three different whiskeys? I don't know, but maybe something this year
(02:51):
with the corn varietal. It just works really, really well. Now I will admit that I've not had
a chance to try any of the Heaven Hill Grain to Glass series, mainly because I've heard mixed
reviews on it, and the price is pretty up there for what it is. It's relatively younger whiskey.
I do love to see the experimentation and collaboration with farmers and
(03:11):
specific farms. That's really cool to me, but this is definitely a try-before-I-buy type of whiskey,
and I just have not had a chance to try it. I would be curious to try it side by side with
previous releases that use typical American white oak compared to this chinkapin oak. I think that
would be a really fun comparison. Usually we see chinkapin used as a finishing cask, but from my
(03:34):
understanding it seems like this release was aged entirely in this oak. They do say these are all at
least six years old, and the series is going to continue with different oak casks. This is just
the first in the series of releases. So very interesting, but it's definitely a try-before-I-buy
like I said. But we're not stopping there with the new releases. Just saw that an email came
(03:55):
through about the new Bunnahaban 12-year cask strength for 2025. I've bought two previous
years releases for this and have absolutely loved that whiskey. This one though, the price has gone
up a relatively decent amount. It's gone up to $149 MSRP. The ABV on this one is 56.4%,
(04:17):
which is in line kind of with what they usually do. But yeah, the price is an 82% increase over
last year's bottle. And you know, I know price increases are inevitable, but such a massive
increase, I think that's what people are mostly talking about. I will say in the past this has
kind of been an instant buy for me when I see it for, I think it's like usually, well let's see,
(04:37):
82%. That's more math that I'm willing to do right now, but I know it's previously been,
under, I would say $80 and it's been like an instant buy. But this one, I'm definitely not
going to be pulling the trigger on it because to me, it's a great whiskey and it's always been
one of the favorites on my shelf for the price. But for something that drastically different in
(04:58):
price, it's going to have to be a much better whiskey. And until I try it, I'm not going to
put the money down for that, but sad to see it because I've really enjoyed this release.
Like I said, I had the 2024 and I think I had the 22 release of it and have usually, you know,
really wanted to seek it out, but not for 82% higher of a price. Now there is a new Glenlivet
(05:20):
12-year-old that is called the Jamaica edition, which is pretty fun. I love the bright
colors on the label. This one is a 12-year-old single malt scotch that has been finished in
Jamaican rum casks. Jamaican rum is typically a more of a funky rum. It's not one of my go-tos,
but I know it's used in a lot of really great tiki cocktails that I'm a fan of.
(05:42):
I think a funky rum is always a fun addition to a finishing cask. I've had a rye whiskey,
I think from Doc Swinson's called the Funky Drummer that was also finished in Jamaican rum cask. And I
really loved the unique twist that it gave the whiskey. I think Glenlivet is such a,
I don't want to say like basic whiskey, but a approachable, not too nuanced whiskey. I think
(06:08):
adding something like that to a Jamaican rum cask could allow for a really fun flavor experience. So
I'll keep an eye out. Retail on that's about $55. I think that's a very fair price. And
traditionally I've kind of liked some of these fun finishing casks, so I'm keeping an eye out
for that one for sure. Another new announcement is the 12-year edition of Old Overholt Cast Strength.
(06:30):
This has been a release they've been putting out every year and always goes up one year in age,
so I feel like they're dealing with the same stock of whiskey that they're just holding some
of it back. I will say the 10-year version of this was absolutely delicious. One of my favorite
whiskeys I've ever had from Jim Beam. I was lucky enough to buy a backup bottle of that last year
and compared to the 11-year that came out in 24, there's no comparison. The 10-year to me was a
(06:56):
drastically better whiskey. So I'm hopeful that this one is going to be right there with the 10-year,
maybe a little less like the 11-year, but I definitely want to do a comparison. I am almost
out of my 10-year. I need to save a sample so I can do a 10, 11, and 12 comparison. Retail on this is
$110. ABV will range between 53% and 65% because it is bottled at Cask Strength. So that's on my
(07:23):
must-buy list, at least to do a comparison for the channel. I think I talked about this a couple
weeks back when it was first announced, but now that it's out, High West has released their 13th
act of A Midwinter Night's Dram Rye. This one's coming in at a retail of $150. ABV is $48.3.
Always been a fan of this release, but it's still creeping up there in price. I think last year,
(07:45):
or it was actually two years ago, I bought it for $120. Now it's up to $150. I still will probably
buy a bottle, let's be real. I have the opportunity to buy one through my local liquor store, and I
haven't done that yet, but I just really love this release year over year, and it always, to me,
drinks like a high-end whiskey. So even with the price increase, I think, at least for now,
(08:08):
I'm willing to give it a shot. Now this is aged for four to ten years old. It's combining both
MGP's distillate and High West's distillate. They don't tell you exactly how much, but I know over
time, more of High West's whiskey is going to go into this. So again, it's one that I have just
loved personally. I love a port cask on a rye whiskey, and High West is one of the best ones
(08:32):
I've ever had that do it. Now there's some more affordable options that do it almost as good,
from Old Scout, one in particular. That one is a favorite of mine, but I still think A Midwinter's
Night's Dram is one of my favorite limited edition releases, and it's one that's not
extremely hard to get my hands on, so yeah, I'll probably pick it up. All right, well,
(08:53):
as I mentioned, this week's episode of Bourbon Boos isn't as scary as previous weeks,
because we have an actual whiskey here to review, not a spirit drink as we did last week. So this
is one that I've seen staring at me on the shelves for pretty much all year, and I thought, what
better time to review it than around the Halloween season? This episode's coming out the day before
(09:15):
Halloween, so I thought it was an appropriate one to review for today's episode. This is
Smokehead Islay Single Malt Scotch Whiskey, and there's a few different releases of this. I just
picked up the basic one just to kind of get a baseline impression of this brand, and it's
actually bottled by Ian Macleod Distillers, based in Scotland, of course. They actually own three
(09:38):
different distilleries, Glengoyne, Tamdu, and Rosebank, and one gin distillery, actually,
Edinburgh Gin, is owned by them as well. But this lineup from them, the Smokehead series,
is from an undisclosed Islay distillery. There are some theories about where it's from, but nothing
official is out there, so we're just going to go into this assuming it's from probably one of the
(09:59):
major ones, maybe some of their younger distillate. Of course, this one isn't age-stated, but it's at
least three years old. I know some of their other releases do have ages on them, but this one is
their most approachable pricing-wise from the lineup. This one was only $35 on sale. I think
retail on it's $40. Of course, it is a Spirits Direct brand from Total Wine, so you can often
(10:22):
get it at a cheaper price. But yeah, I thought I would pick this up because one, it is very
Halloween-y, and two, that's a very affordable price for a single malt Isla whiskey. By the way,
this comes in at 43% ABV, which is better than expected with it being such an affordable bottle.
There's really not much information on the back of the bottle itself. It just says,
(10:44):
it is intensely rich yet subtly sweet. Smokehead embodies a wild spirit and appeals to those
with an appreciation for heavy, earthy peat. With immense smoke and notes of sea salt and spice,
this is a vigorous whiskey that stands out from the crowd. But other than that, I really don't
know much about it, but I had to give it a try for you guys. Let's go ahead and get it poured.
(11:05):
Ooh, ooh, on the nose, this is actually pretty pleasant. I mean, if you are a fan of peated
scotch, it's not too crazy with the peat. To me, it's almost more like a smoked barbecue note,
a little bit sweet, definitely some ashiness there as well. It's not overwhelming my palate like
some peated scotches do. I would say it's a little bit of like a maritime kind of peat,
a little bit of like an ocean spray kind of note. The actual ocean spray, not like cranberry juice,
(11:30):
but it's got a sweetness to it that actually I'm enjoying quite a bit compared with that peat.
Kind of more of like a candy, like a caramel sweetness compared to like a fruitiness.
And I wouldn't expect too much of like a fruitiness on this anyways. As much as I love
my sherry cask and port cask single malt Islay scotches, this one is not cask finish, I believe.
(11:51):
Some of the other lineup is though. All right, let's go ahead and give it a taste. Cheers.
Hmm. Okay. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely smoky. You can usually tell from like a younger Islay scotch,
the smoke kind of dominates and that's kind of what's happening here. But I do actually think
the proof works in its favor, you know, being low proof. It's not kind of like blowing your socks off
(12:16):
with the peat. It actually gives you some time to kind of process it and really think about what's
going on before you try to quickly down it. And surprisingly, this one has a really nice finish
on it. Even just from the first sip, it's lingering on the palate and it's going really sweet on the
back end. Up front still, there's that maritime kind of smokiness, a bit of ashiness, almost a
(12:37):
little bit of like cigar, like some tobacco, not like burned tobacco, but more of like a tobacco
leaf. But as it goes across the mid palate and finish, it goes into that sweet direction. Like
I said, caramel, a little bit of like butterscotch I'm getting there. And all the way through the
finish, that smoke is kind of goes down very, very easily. Wow. I don't know what I was expecting
(12:58):
going into this being, you know, a sub $40 bottle. It's probably one of the least expensive
Islai single malts I've ever had. I mean, even some of my favorite blends from Islay or whiskeys that
do use Islay whiskey in it. I had a pour of Peat Monster actually earlier today, just because I
know I'd be reviewing this. That one drank really, really nicely and a bit more complex than this
one, but that's, you know, $20 more and it's a blended malt versus a single malt. So I think
(13:23):
what Smokehead has done here is actually pretty impressive for the price. I wouldn't say it's
necessarily an entry-level Islay unless you just don't know what smoke tastes like. I think there
are other ways to ease into it if you're not familiar with a smoky palate. But what's
interesting is, like I said, they have quite a few bottles in this lineup. They all have really
colorful labels. One I'm very interested in, they have a 15-year edition of it for $65. So for 30
(13:48):
bucks more, you're getting an age statement, still the same ABV. They also have what they call a high
voltage release for 60 and that one comes in at 58% ABV. So honestly, I am very impressed by this
entry-level into their lineup. I don't think it's, you know, the most complex isla in the world.
I think it's, you know, relatively simple in terms of complexity. But it's a really nice experience
(14:14):
and like I said, that finish is really surprising for such a moderately priced bottle. So in terms
of ranking, you know, I consider all things including price, availability, um, you know,
flavor, of course. And this one, it impresses me in a lot of different ways. I'm gonna have to give
that a 8 out of 10, all things considered. While it doesn't have some of the complexity and nuance
(14:35):
that, you know, a lot of namesake single malt scotches do, it makes up for it in price and
availability. I mean, uh, it's really hard to find fault in this other than the fact that it is young
and it's a little bit, you know, simplistic in terms of complexity. But again, it's a $35 bottle.
You have to think of it from that perspective. And I think for that, you're, you're hard-pressed
(14:56):
to find another Islay single malt in that price range. I mean, yeah, this one is definitely one
worth trying, especially some of their higher end items in their lineup. This makes me really
curious to explore. Like I said, they're 15 year, they have a sherry one, a stout cask, a tequila
cask. Um, and of course that high voltage, uh, version of Smokehead. So yeah. Wow. Ending bourbon
(15:18):
boos with a bang. So that does it for this week's episode of the podcast. Thank you all for
listening. Thank you for entertaining my 'Bourbon Boos' series. Um, let me know if you guys want to
see more themed months. Uh, not quite sure. Maybe we could do a holiday one coming up in November,
December. Not quite sure what we're doing yet, but I look forward to bringing you more episodes.
(15:38):
Uh, make sure to follow me on your favorite podcast platform. If you can leave a rating,
please do. If you leave a review, I'm happy to read it out here on the podcast.
Of course, if you want to leave a voicemail message, you're always welcome to do that.
You can give me a ring at 9 1 6 6 4 2 9 8 3 7 or 9 1 6 64 bites. Of course, follow me everywhere
on the web bourbonbytes.com has all my links, but most of all, thank you so much for listening.
(16:02):
Cheers. And I'll talk to you guys next episode.
Hey everyone, this is Clifton. Before we get into today's episode, I do want to say I had a bit of
(00:04):
a technical difficulty with today's episode. I recorded a couple of additional news stories,
but for some reason they became corrupt during the export. So not sure what happened there,
so I'll save those for next week. Nothing pressing, nothing too crazy, but just wanted
to let you guys know why today's episode is a little bit shorter. But yeah, stay tuned,
this should be a fun one. Today on the Bourbon Bytes podcast,
(00:27):
I'm sharing new whiskeys from across the industry, including Heaven Hill's new
Grain To Glass Specialty Barrel series, a Glenlivet aged in Jamaican rum casks,
this year's new release of a Midwinter's Night Dram, and more. Plus I'm doing my final
'Bourbon Boos' review of Smokehead Single Malt Islay Whiskey.
(00:59):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Bourbon Bytes podcast. I'm your host Clifton,
and this is the week of Thursday, October 30th, 2025. We are entering our final week of my bourbon
boos series, and this week we have a whiskey that is actually a whiskey, believe it or not.
This week we'll actually be reviewing an Islay Single Malt with a very spooky logo on it,
(01:23):
but we have some whiskey news to get into first before we do the byte-sized review.
As with previous weeks, we are going to list off a ton of new and upcoming releases that
were announced this month, and many of these I am very, very excited for. I'm just going to
dive right into it with the first one that hit my inbox earlier last week actually, and this is the
(01:44):
new Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Specialty Barrel series. Now as with the original Grain to Glass
series that came out a while back, each release begins with corn seed varietals chosen annually
in partnership with Beck's Hybrids, but this year they are taking it a step further with a barrel
selection that complements the corn type. So with the help of the Independent Stave Company,
(02:07):
Heaven Hill's Master Distiller selects a barrel. This year they chose chinkapin oak, which we've
been hearing a lot about. A lot of releases are using chinquapin oak these days, but they say this
is a rare white oak native to Missouri that was chosen for its unique character, and it's going
to be available for all three of the releases, including the Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey,
(02:28):
the Kentucky Straight wheated bourbon whiskey, and the Kentucky Straight rye whiskey. I think the
most recent whiskey that I've had that's used chinquapin oak has been the Shenk's Homestead
from Michter's, and I think it does have a significant impact on the flavor of the whiskey.
Would I choose it for three different whiskeys? I don't know, but maybe something this year
(02:51):
with the corn varietal. It just works really, really well. Now I will admit that I've not had
a chance to try any of the Heaven Hill Grain to Glass series, mainly because I've heard mixed
reviews on it, and the price is pretty up there for what it is. It's relatively younger whiskey.
I do love to see the experimentation and collaboration with farmers and
(03:11):
specific farms. That's really cool to me, but this is definitely a try-before-I-buy type of whiskey,
and I just have not had a chance to try it. I would be curious to try it side by side with
previous releases that use typical American white oak compared to this chinkapin oak. I think that
would be a really fun comparison. Usually we see chinkapin used as a finishing cask, but from my
(03:34):
understanding it seems like this release was aged entirely in this oak. They do say these are all at
least six years old, and the series is going to continue with different oak casks. This is just
the first in the series of releases. So very interesting, but it's definitely a try-before-I-buy
like I said. But we're not stopping there with the new releases. Just saw that an email came
(03:55):
through about the new Bunnahaban 12-year cask strength for 2025. I've bought two previous
years releases for this and have absolutely loved that whiskey. This one though, the price has gone
up a relatively decent amount. It's gone up to $149 MSRP. The ABV on this one is 56.4%,
(04:17):
which is in line kind of with what they usually do. But yeah, the price is an 82% increase over
last year's bottle. And you know, I know price increases are inevitable, but such a massive
increase, I think that's what people are mostly talking about. I will say in the past this has
kind of been an instant buy for me when I see it for, I think it's like usually, well let's see,
(04:37):
82%. That's more math that I'm willing to do right now, but I know it's previously been,
under, I would say $80 and it's been like an instant buy. But this one, I'm definitely not
going to be pulling the trigger on it because to me, it's a great whiskey and it's always been
one of the favorites on my shelf for the price. But for something that drastically different in
(04:58):
price, it's going to have to be a much better whiskey. And until I try it, I'm not going to
put the money down for that, but sad to see it because I've really enjoyed this release.
Like I said, I had the 2024 and I think I had the 22 release of it and have usually, you know,
really wanted to seek it out, but not for 82% higher of a price. Now there is a new Glenlivet
(05:20):
12-year-old that is called the Jamaica edition, which is pretty fun. I love the bright
colors on the label. This one is a 12-year-old single malt scotch that has been finished in
Jamaican rum casks. Jamaican rum is typically a more of a funky rum. It's not one of my go-tos,
but I know it's used in a lot of really great tiki cocktails that I'm a fan of.
(05:42):
I think a funky rum is always a fun addition to a finishing cask. I've had a rye whiskey,
I think from Doc Swinson's called the Funky Drummer that was also finished in Jamaican rum cask. And I
really loved the unique twist that it gave the whiskey. I think Glenlivet is such a,
I don't want to say like basic whiskey, but a approachable, not too nuanced whiskey. I think
(06:08):
adding something like that to a Jamaican rum cask could allow for a really fun flavor experience. So
I'll keep an eye out. Retail on that's about $55. I think that's a very fair price. And
traditionally I've kind of liked some of these fun finishing casks, so I'm keeping an eye out
for that one for sure. Another new announcement is the 12-year edition of Old Overholt Cast Strength.
(06:30):
This has been a release they've been putting out every year and always goes up one year in age,
so I feel like they're dealing with the same stock of whiskey that they're just holding some
of it back. I will say the 10-year version of this was absolutely delicious. One of my favorite
whiskeys I've ever had from Jim Beam. I was lucky enough to buy a backup bottle of that last year
and compared to the 11-year that came out in 24, there's no comparison. The 10-year to me was a
(06:56):
drastically better whiskey. So I'm hopeful that this one is going to be right there with the 10-year,
maybe a little less like the 11-year, but I definitely want to do a comparison. I am almost
out of my 10-year. I need to save a sample so I can do a 10, 11, and 12 comparison. Retail on this is
$110. ABV will range between 53% and 65% because it is bottled at Cask Strength. So that's on my
(07:23):
must-buy list, at least to do a comparison for the channel. I think I talked about this a couple
weeks back when it was first announced, but now that it's out, High West has released their 13th
act of A Midwinter Night's Dram Rye. This one's coming in at a retail of $150. ABV is $48.3.
Always been a fan of this release, but it's still creeping up there in price. I think last year,
(07:45):
or it was actually two years ago, I bought it for $120. Now it's up to $150. I still will probably
buy a bottle, let's be real. I have the opportunity to buy one through my local liquor store, and I
haven't done that yet, but I just really love this release year over year, and it always, to me,
drinks like a high-end whiskey. So even with the price increase, I think, at least for now,
(08:08):
I'm willing to give it a shot. Now this is aged for four to ten years old. It's combining both
MGP's distillate and High West's distillate. They don't tell you exactly how much, but I know over
time, more of High West's whiskey is going to go into this. So again, it's one that I have just
loved personally. I love a port cask on a rye whiskey, and High West is one of the best ones
(08:32):
I've ever had that do it. Now there's some more affordable options that do it almost as good,
from Old Scout, one in particular. That one is a favorite of mine, but I still think A Midwinter's
Night's Dram is one of my favorite limited edition releases, and it's one that's not
extremely hard to get my hands on, so yeah, I'll probably pick it up. All right, well,
(08:53):
as I mentioned, this week's episode of Bourbon Boos isn't as scary as previous weeks,
because we have an actual whiskey here to review, not a spirit drink as we did last week. So this
is one that I've seen staring at me on the shelves for pretty much all year, and I thought, what
better time to review it than around the Halloween season? This episode's coming out the day before
(09:15):
Halloween, so I thought it was an appropriate one to review for today's episode. This is
Smokehead Islay Single Malt Scotch Whiskey, and there's a few different releases of this. I just
picked up the basic one just to kind of get a baseline impression of this brand, and it's
actually bottled by Ian Macleod Distillers, based in Scotland, of course. They actually own three
(09:38):
different distilleries, Glengoyne, Tamdu, and Rosebank, and one gin distillery, actually,
Edinburgh Gin, is owned by them as well. But this lineup from them, the Smokehead series,
is from an undisclosed Islay distillery. There are some theories about where it's from, but nothing
official is out there, so we're just going to go into this assuming it's from probably one of the
(09:59):
major ones, maybe some of their younger distillate. Of course, this one isn't age-stated, but it's at
least three years old. I know some of their other releases do have ages on them, but this one is
their most approachable pricing-wise from the lineup. This one was only $35 on sale. I think
retail on it's $40. Of course, it is a Spirits Direct brand from Total Wine, so you can often
(10:22):
get it at a cheaper price. But yeah, I thought I would pick this up because one, it is very
Halloween-y, and two, that's a very affordable price for a single malt Isla whiskey. By the way,
this comes in at 43% ABV, which is better than expected with it being such an affordable bottle.
There's really not much information on the back of the bottle itself. It just says,
(10:44):
it is intensely rich yet subtly sweet. Smokehead embodies a wild spirit and appeals to those
with an appreciation for heavy, earthy peat. With immense smoke and notes of sea salt and spice,
this is a vigorous whiskey that stands out from the crowd. But other than that, I really don't
know much about it, but I had to give it a try for you guys. Let's go ahead and get it poured.
(11:05):
Ooh, ooh, on the nose, this is actually pretty pleasant. I mean, if you are a fan of peated
scotch, it's not too crazy with the peat. To me, it's almost more like a smoked barbecue note,
a little bit sweet, definitely some ashiness there as well. It's not overwhelming my palate like
some peated scotches do. I would say it's a little bit of like a maritime kind of peat,
a little bit of like an ocean spray kind of note. The actual ocean spray, not like cranberry juice,
(11:30):
but it's got a sweetness to it that actually I'm enjoying quite a bit compared with that peat.
Kind of more of like a candy, like a caramel sweetness compared to like a fruitiness.
And I wouldn't expect too much of like a fruitiness on this anyways. As much as I love
my sherry cask and port cask single malt Islay scotches, this one is not cask finish, I believe.
(11:51):
Some of the other lineup is though. All right, let's go ahead and give it a taste. Cheers.
Hmm. Okay. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely smoky. You can usually tell from like a younger Islay scotch,
the smoke kind of dominates and that's kind of what's happening here. But I do actually think
the proof works in its favor, you know, being low proof. It's not kind of like blowing your socks off
(12:16):
with the peat. It actually gives you some time to kind of process it and really think about what's
going on before you try to quickly down it. And surprisingly, this one has a really nice finish
on it. Even just from the first sip, it's lingering on the palate and it's going really sweet on the
back end. Up front still, there's that maritime kind of smokiness, a bit of ashiness, almost a
(12:37):
little bit of like cigar, like some tobacco, not like burned tobacco, but more of like a tobacco
leaf. But as it goes across the mid palate and finish, it goes into that sweet direction. Like
I said, caramel, a little bit of like butterscotch I'm getting there. And all the way through the
finish, that smoke is kind of goes down very, very easily. Wow. I don't know what I was expecting
(12:58):
going into this being, you know, a sub $40 bottle. It's probably one of the least expensive
Islai single malts I've ever had. I mean, even some of my favorite blends from Islay or whiskeys that
do use Islay whiskey in it. I had a pour of Peat Monster actually earlier today, just because I
know I'd be reviewing this. That one drank really, really nicely and a bit more complex than this
one, but that's, you know, $20 more and it's a blended malt versus a single malt. So I think
(13:23):
what Smokehead has done here is actually pretty impressive for the price. I wouldn't say it's
necessarily an entry-level Islay unless you just don't know what smoke tastes like. I think there
are other ways to ease into it if you're not familiar with a smoky palate. But what's
interesting is, like I said, they have quite a few bottles in this lineup. They all have really
colorful labels. One I'm very interested in, they have a 15-year edition of it for $65. So for 30
(13:48):
bucks more, you're getting an age statement, still the same ABV. They also have what they call a high
voltage release for 60 and that one comes in at 58% ABV. So honestly, I am very impressed by this
entry-level into their lineup. I don't think it's, you know, the most complex isla in the world.
I think it's, you know, relatively simple in terms of complexity. But it's a really nice experience
(14:14):
and like I said, that finish is really surprising for such a moderately priced bottle. So in terms
of ranking, you know, I consider all things including price, availability, um, you know,
flavor, of course. And this one, it impresses me in a lot of different ways. I'm gonna have to give
that a 8 out of 10, all things considered. While it doesn't have some of the complexity and nuance
(14:35):
that, you know, a lot of namesake single malt scotches do, it makes up for it in price and
availability. I mean, uh, it's really hard to find fault in this other than the fact that it is young
and it's a little bit, you know, simplistic in terms of complexity. But again, it's a $35 bottle.
You have to think of it from that perspective. And I think for that, you're, you're hard-pressed
(14:56):
to find another Islay single malt in that price range. I mean, yeah, this one is definitely one
worth trying, especially some of their higher end items in their lineup. This makes me really
curious to explore. Like I said, they're 15 year, they have a sherry one, a stout cask, a tequila
cask. Um, and of course that high voltage, uh, version of Smokehead. So yeah. Wow. Ending bourbon
(15:18):
boos with a bang. So that does it for this week's episode of the podcast. Thank you all for
listening. Thank you for entertaining my 'Bourbon Boos' series. Um, let me know if you guys want to
see more themed months. Uh, not quite sure. Maybe we could do a holiday one coming up in November,
December. Not quite sure what we're doing yet, but I look forward to bringing you more episodes.
(15:38):
Uh, make sure to follow me on your favorite podcast platform. If you can leave a rating,
please do. If you leave a review, I'm happy to read it out here on the podcast.
Of course, if you want to leave a voicemail message, you're always welcome to do that.
You can give me a ring at 9 1 6 6 4 2 9 8 3 7 or 9 1 6 64 bites. Of course, follow me everywhere
on the web bourbonbytes.com has all my links, but most of all, thank you so much for listening.
(16:02):
Cheers. And I'll talk to you guys next episode.
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