The Scalasaig Island Hopper Maiden Voyage (43%, Colonsay Beverages Ltd, 3000 bottles, 2020)

• ABV: 43%
• Age: NAS
• Bottling: Colonsay Beverages Ltd
• Category: Blended malt scotch whisky
• Cost: £45
• Origin: n/a
• Vintage: undeclared

What they say

The Scalasaig ‘Island Hopper’ has been launched to market initially as a blended malt to exactly the style that we aim to produce on the island within the next three years. Using my industry network, I was able to source and select a number of island malt whiskies which would give us our smoky backbone and complex character. Working with the support of renowned whisky maker and good friend, Max Macfarlane, we hand-selected and vatted around ten casks together and filled into first-fill dry Oloroso sherry hogsheads back in December 2018. The resulting spirit is a fantastically well-crafted blended malt with all the rich sweetness of sherry-aging and a big warming hug of smoke in the background. – Keith Bonnington Director of Colonsay Beverages.

The Maiden Voyage is a release of only 3,000 bottles, ten unique casks of Single malt whisky with a distinctly maritime style were vatted by masters of their craft and re-racked into first-fill European sherry oak casks to finish their maturation.

What I say

The Inaugural release from Colonsay Berverages Ltd. based at the port of Scalasaig on Colonsay. Sampled during the #ScalasaigWhisky tweet tasting hosted by @TheWhiskyWire and @TheScalasaig.

My tasting notes:

• Appearance: Dark ruby brown (14/20), oily, medium-large tears, thick legs.
• Nose: Dark, nutty, spiced, red fruits, raspberry, plum, briny, linseed oil and salted caramel, yeasty/beery, sherbet dib-dab, funky coal dust, a little fruitcake after a while.
• Taste: Nutty and dried fruits, berries and raisin, treacle toffees, dark chocolate orange, earthy peat, a little spiced and herbal or medicinal, Ricola sweets, coppery twang
• Finish: Long, drying, woody spices and slightly charred tobacco leaf

Overall

A well constructed blend I’m assuming from all island Malts? Good balance of peat & sherry – not too sweet almost classical ‘Highland’ style in fact. Well done

Score 83/100

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