10th Street Peated Single Malt Port Cask Finish barrel no 24 db (97) n24 for a moment the brain stops registering what it is being told from the glass: it is in shock. How can this forthright, lightly acidic peat – a kind of blend between farmyard cow pens and anthracite fires – work in such effortless harmony with this cherry fruitcake-studded Port cask?

Mesmerising …; t24.5 you groan… you purr… you sigh… you marvel. And then you wonder! You know that it is unlikely you’ll often be in contact with a malt that caresses so many taste buds so intimately. The erudition of the peat is the stuff of poets, the sculptures and shapes created when in tandem with the fruit is the domain of artists… Nothing undercooked or overdone. The salivation levels, the gristy sweetness of the malt above and beyond the smoke, the layering of the plum pudding and cherry cake… just wow…! f24 you know you are coming to a close when a little chocolate seeps into the mix. The phenols and fruit form a graceful guard of honour as it does…; b.24.5

American single malt has just been redefined. It is unlikely you’ll encounter a more perfect marriage of peat and wine cask than this. I’d call it a masterpiece. Except that is possibly doing it an injustice. As Ardbeg’s old blender, I can tell you that had this been one of my creations from that fabled distillery I would have been a very proud man. That this occurred in a single cask is almost miraculous.