Fleurieu "The Hunting of the Snark"

Smell: Malt, peanut brittle, caramel. There's a faint hint of vegetal and woody/herbal peat that gets stronger as the whisky sits in the glass. There's also a soft oak cask aroma, but this is a distillate-forward whisky. Adding water doesn't alter the smell much. Taste: The arrival is malty and briny with peat smoke that is immediately apparent and grows in intensity throughout. The profile is sweet with notes of grilled meat and vegetables. The texture is oily but has a dry quality that works well. Water enhances the herbal notes and brings out some hot spice flavors but doesn't change the perceived peat level. Aftertaste: Medium. Smoke, fruit chutney, and caramel. Black coffee in the finish. This whisky was aged in 2nd fill Australian apera casks, allowing the distillate to stand out without interference. 520 bottles were produced. It's a very enjoyable whisky that reminded me of peated Scottish whiskies from the east-coast highlands and Speyside (anCnoc, GlenDronach, Ardmore, etc.). It has the sweet woody characteristic of highland peat instead of the briny maritime quality of Islay whiskies. I'm unsure if this was made from local or imported barley, but based on the smell and taste, I'd guess they imported peated malt from Scotland. Fleurieu is known for the amusing and unusual names they give their expressions (and for their trademark featuring two manneken pis facing each other). However, I don't know why Lewis Carroll's nonsense masterpiece was chosen as the name for this whisky. Tasted from a 30ml sample. “Good”: 84/100 (3.75 stars)