Today we continue our journey of discovery with the Remarkable Regional Malts series from Douglas Laing. A range of blended malts each representing a Scottish whisky region. We have already been to Islay, then we visited Speyside and Campbeltown, but this time we are going island hopping with the Rock Island.
Originally launched in 2015 as Rock Oyster, it was the 4th in the Remarkable Regional Malts range, following Big Peat, Scallywag and Timorous Beastie. However, in 2019 they changed the name to Rock Island because it appears that quite a few people don’t like oysters. 🙂
The blend itself is a marriage of single malts from the islands Jura, Arran, Orkney en Islay. Bottled at a strength of 46.8% ABV.
Rock Island tasting notes:
Nose: it immediately starts with a whiff of peat, but it reminds me more of Islay peat than the islands. A sugary barley note, followed by limestone and seaweed. A hint of fried wolfish (or Sea Wolf). Then some vanilla. Caramel and sea salt. Later also some lovely lemon freshness.
Taste: rather peaty again. Seaweed and brine. A drop of vanilla custard and a pinch of sea salt. There’s also a faint herbal note, liquorice comes to mind. And a touch of fresh lemon juice.
Finish: mid-long with a touch of peat, minerals, vanilla and lemons.
A rather tasty blended malt, especially for the price range (around €40). The maritime flavours which you’d like to have in an islands blend are absolutely there. They say this will taste nice with seafood and I kinda get that. Something I will have to try soon. 🙂
Bottle provided by De Monnik Dranken.
