Overview
You’d be forgiven for thinking “The Queen of the Moorlands” invoked some vision of a firey haired Celtic warrior bestriding the heather in search of vengeance for the burning of her family’s castle… but they’re actually bottles selected by a bloke called David Wood who owned a shop in Leek in the early 2000s. The moorlands in question then being, the no less lovely Staffordshire moorlands, the woman would probably sound like Robbie Williams and the castle would be Alton Towers.
This cask produced just 289 bottles, so if nothing else, the large block caps “RARE CASK” on the label is accurate.
Produced for the 2010 Islay festival (Feis Ile) it’s heavily peated for a Bunnahabhain and given the bottle is nearly empty, it’s a good ‘un…
| Colour | Nose | Palate | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marmalade, Princess Merida of DunBroch’s hair. | Heathery at first with slowly building sweet peat fire-smoke, fruit-cake and dates. | Oily mouthfeel, very smoky backed by vanilla, chocolate and raisins. | Rich yet fresh, the peat smoke and sweetness lingers for an age. |
Conclusion
I hope our rare casks live up to this quality. This is a perfect example of a whisky enthusiast tracking down a great cask and offering it up to the public. Unfortunately (for us… not him) David Wood left the wine shop in 2013 and after a brief stint working for the greatest brewer on earth (Buxton… just so you know) now organises tours of Islay, so great rare casks like this become even rarer. Unless…
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