Kings County Peated Malt Whiskey

The bottle's appearance suggests indifference, yet it possesses a rather cool, distinctive style. I had previously encountered mentions of this distillery, but the pricing always seemed excessive. I located some smaller bottles at prices that remained unreasonable, but at least the overall expenditure was reduced. N: Oh dear. This smells young and light. There's some vegetal peat and mineral notes, but the malt smells immature, and the entire product gives the impression of lacking complexity and coherence. P: It tastes young, immature, and uncomplex. I detect a somewhat sour, vegetal flavor from the combination of young malt and peat. This isn't a rustic, aged-in-the-rough dram; it's rather bland. It does have smoke, and the expected sweetness from the malt, but it tastes as though a few distinct flavors were simply combined without much thought. F: Similar to the nose and palate, the malt's lightness is evident here. The peat persists, but a more mineral sweet and sour element emerges. It's somewhat unusual, but not significantly worse than the palate. There is at least some richness from the malt, and the lack of cohesion and alcohol become less noticeable. It neither excites nor interests me. Imagine Copper Fox Rye (aged only 20 months!) but without that maritime complexity or strangely appealing Islay character. I wish I could say this was good, but it tastes like it doesn't really care. Perhaps it's authentically New York? It's not that this distillery is poor at distilling or aging, nor that their final product is actively bad. This strongly indicates that the distillery was not yet prepared to release a malt whiskey. It seems to be a combination of the cold climate and premature release. I dislike criticizing this, but it's simply not very good. I won't assign a rating based on this, but it's very expensive for what it offers. I will definitely not be purchasing another bottle. My expectations weren't high, but this is truly disappointing. It's smoked rather than peated, yet Corsair Wildfire is more complex and tastes less mature. While Corsair Wildfire doesn't possess aged maturity, it lacks youthful flaws. Provided peat isn't a non-negotiable requirement, Corsair Wildfire surpasses this in every aspect: richer, more complex, more balanced, more engaging, higher proof, less expensive... This lacks complexity and tastes young. I would choose Corsair Wildfire and Copper Fox Rye over this any day, and both are cheaper. This is akin to combining the worst aspects of the Corsair and Copper Fox. Amrut Peated surpasses all of them, despite being less complex and mature than many other peated whiskies, which only highlights how inadequate this whiskey is. I cannot claim I anticipated much, but I am still quite disappointed. Given all the criticisms I've just listed, I find it hard to imagine this being better than a 13. I don't believe it's worse than a 9, though I suspect it falls on the lower end of that range. If forced to choose a rating now, I'd give it a 10. I'm actually considering that a 9 might be too severe, and I might even be inclined to give it an 11. For now, however, it's a 10. After such disappointment with this one, I decided to open my sample of Kings County Bourbon and taste a small amount. It was significantly better! I believe Kings County should focus on that for the time being. It resembled Garrison Brothers Single Barrel Cask Strength Lite, which I enjoyed, though not quite as much as the Garrison Brothers. And that reminds me that I need to update my review of Garrison Brothers now that that spirit has aged and become more complex and rich.

The aroma on this screams young with green bananas being barbecued with some peat briquettes, then comes some walnuts, vanilla wafers, light barrel spices, nail polish, and a medium burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel with those peaty grilled bananas, walnuts, and vanilla wafers before the bitterness kicks in and overwhelms before the last note of nail polish and medium ethanol bite arrives. The finish isn’t saving this either, it’s just bitter with unripe green fruit and some peat. This is not impressive and I might have been able to pull more notes out of this one, but just a few tastes are all I can take. Looking at their website shows this is between 1.5 and 4 years old, which seems too young and shows on their product. Maybe if they were in Texas with some brutal heat this would be better, but it seems like a rushed product to me. Big thanks to a friend for this sample.

Amazing. In my honest opinion, this is among the finest, most complex single malts I've experienced. It possesses depth, an excellent mouthfeel, and layers of delightful flavor. After purchasing a 750ml bottle for $71, I needed time to fully appreciate it. I like it a lot. I'm thoroughly impressed. While this description is general, it's easily one of my top choices.

Nose: Citrus, grain Palate: Smoke, citrus, burnt, grain Finish: Smooth, grain-like Seems a little immature, but it has respectable complexity. The smoke contributes good texture and a grounded character to the whiskey. If it had more smokiness, it would be very similar to Lagavulin 8 year.

This appears to be marketed for its scotch-like flavor profile, but the thick mouthfeel of the single malt clearly indicates its American bourbon origin.

Nose: Cereal, citrus Palate: Malt, earth, slight smoke Finish: Rich, ethanol Acceptable, but a little coarse.