Just trying to fix my review so the distillery name would be evident as opposed to a review of peated whisky.
I recently picked up a bottle of a whisky that had me very excited. It was a distillery that I'd tried before and absolutely loved. A distillery that my wife loved.
That distillery is Hellyer's Road in Tasmania.
My wife and I had tried the unpeated version while we were down in Margaret River a few months ago and it was immediately loved by us.
So when I was at my sister store, The International Beer Shop, and saw that they had a peated version, I knew I had to grab it.
Fast forward a month or so and I've finally polished off a few long standing bottles and I decided it was time to crack open a new bottle!
Hellyer's Road Peated Whisky here we come.
It was with great excitement that I finally pulled the bottle out of it's box and then cracked the seal.
Pale pale yellow. Or as a friend of mine would describe it, the color of panther piss hahaha!
When I pour the whisky into it's glencairn my wife states that it smells like burn.
Hahahah
She's actually not too far off.
Peat, Ash, Burnt bandaid, and the tiniest hint of fruit hiding under it all make for an interesting nose that I honestly wasn't expecting.
When I drink the first thing I taste is ashy peat, some phenols, a tiny bit of cocoa and just a hint of hint of fruit (pears).
Finish is of decent length with ashy peat and just a hint of chocolate at the end of the finish.
To be honest this whisky almost reminds me of a less intense version of Laphroaig. Specifically the 10 year old.
Not bad, but nothing to write home about. I paid about $80 odd for the bottle of peated Hellyer's Road and I don't feel that it was money poorly spent, however it's definitely not my favorite peated whisky out there.
You're going to have to look a bit to find a bottle of this, but honestly I'd personally hunt for the unpeated version over the peated.
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