Wine casks release the unexpected sweetness at the core of peated whiskies, enhancing toffee apple qualities of malt whisky from the Caol Ila Distillery. You’ll find bright cherry notes tempted out by refill red wine casks containing The Peat Monster, alongside blueberry flapjack flavours in whisky from the Laphroaig Distillery finished in Marsala barriques.

What if we told you that peated Scotch whiskies aren’t all they seem?

We’ve always had a fascination with the things you can uncover through blending. Sometimes we blend to build and combine flavours, other times we use blending as a tool to unlock the secrets hiding within different parcels of whisky.

In the world of peated Scotch malt whisky, intensity of smokiness tends to dominate the discussion.

What is often overlooked is the inherent sweetness of peated malts, hidden behind the bonfires.

We have long believed there is more to the story than smoke alone. A hint of honey, a flash of fruit – there have been signs of sweeter delights hiding in plain sight beneath the sootiness. Our experiments with sherry and wine casks have unearthed extra dimensions to Islay malts. We can now reveal the curiously sweet Secrets of Smoke.