Introducing Holy Dram Single cask – Inchmoan 14 yo Cask #68

This is not and ordinary post, and it’s certainly a very exciting moment in my whisky journey – A release of my (or more accurate our) first single cask whisky bottling for the local Israeli market, mainly aimed at our local whisky group called Holy Dram IL. For those who do not read Hebrew, and are located worldwide , a few words about Holy Dram are in place.

More than a year ago, me and a few good whisky friends have set a local whisky and spirits Facebook Group called Holy Dram, we started with a few dozens of friends, whisky aficionados and lovers, and the group has grown very nicely to include more than 4,100 members as I write this post. The group is very active, and in addition to people sharing what whisky / Rum / etc they are drinking and asking for whisky advise etc, we’ve also organized quite a lot of local whisky tastings , whisky discounts and other fun activities. Last year saw the first cask we’ve bought for the group members, a M&H ex-Ardbeg cask which is aging quite nicely in the Tel Aviv distillery’s warehouse, a cask we aim to bottle in 2 year’s time.

While we wait for our cask to mature, we decided we want to start bottling single casks for the Israeli market, aimed at group members, and friends but also available for the general Israeli public who appreciates good single cask whiskies. After a discussion with our friends Donald of Loch Lomond, we decided to try to look for an interesting cask from the LL warehouse, and bottle it as a whole for Israel.

we tasted some 12 or so cask samples from the various LL ranges (Inchmurrin, Loch Lomond, Inchmoan, Peated Loch Lomond etc) and cask #68 a peated Inchmoan rechar hhd cask, was immediately the favorite among us (we are 5 admins in the group), and we immediately decided to bottle the cask for our club.

Cask #68 yielded 220 bottles at cask strength, and we’re currently pre-selling it in the local market.  many people asked for notes locally so here are my notes, and this time i am not going to score it…

Inchmoan Single Cask #68, 2004-2018, 14 yo ,52.4% abv (available upon request)

Nose: This is quite a nice nose, there’s quite some smoke , and chili peppers, ash and soot, but it’ not as ‘ardbeg’ sort of ashy. A very nice wood influence as well, and it look like this has been an active cask. Cinnamon flavored bubble gum, a bit waxy, and a hint of mint.

Palate: now this is where the whisky shines! on the first wave of sensations , there’s quite a lot of peat, the ash and the warm smoke, the vanilla and the pepper which give way to an avalanche of grilled tropical fruit  (thing pineapple, mango, banana), with the sweet smoke holding it all together, a nice touch of chilly and burnt caramel.

Finish: Hints of Caramelized tropical fruit, sweet chili peppers, and a nice bitterness with the ash going a long way.

Bottom line:

I liked this cask from first sniff and sip, and it was love at first sight. I love the Inchmoan smoke, and the tropical fruit twist and smoke go extremely well together. To me this is a cracking dram. I must confess that had i been given this ‘blind’ I would have gone for an Indie Laphroaig 10-15 year old at Cask Strength. It’s That good, and this is Why we chose it in the first place.

Available on request (we also can ship internationally).