Welcome back to another side-by-side tasting in which I explore two single malts, or, in this case, a blend and a single malt, to see how they stand up against each other. The first dram is courtesy of Cask Explorers‘ Advent Calendar from 2022, Emerald Edition, and it’s a 30ml bottle behind door number 6 (and 18 more to go!). I’ve never had this one before, so it’s always fun to try out a new whisky, especially because I don’t need to buy an entire bottle. I genuinely recommend this journey to every one of you. I decided to pair it with a single malt from an undisclosed distillery which I’ve been drinking for some time now. It’s probably a bit unfair, but it’s the closest match I’ve got in my collection at this time. So let’s get to it, but first, we need music! Now playing: Last Days – Windscale.

Black Bottle is a blended Scotch whisky produced by Distell Group Limited. They also own Deanston, Bunnahabhain, Tobermory, and a bunch more. As is the case with most blends, there are over 20 components that make up the flavour profile of this whisky. These most likely include the single malts from the distilleries mentioned above, with Bunnahabhain and Ledaig (produced by Tobermory) being the “smokiest”. Hence the sub-title of this blend – Island Smoke. But there are plenty of grain whiskies in here as well – most likely some cheap-produced column-still corn kind. I jump to that conclusion because the entire 700ml bottle is sold for just a bit over £25. So, yes, there are a ton of shortcuts here. To be honest, it’s not as peaty as I expected it to be. It’s a bit sweeter and slightly bitter on the palate. I am unsure if that’s primarily due to the grain I taste here. It also has a bit of funk on the nose, like that dunnage warehouse, but with a slightly acrid bitterness, nevertheless. There is a very faint ex-sherry note somewhere in there, but it is tough to peel it apart. So many different whiskies in this blend, so who knows what has been added. There’s also a lot of woodsiness, with almost that evergreen sap. I want to say that the finish is medium length, but really it’s a lot of grain that retains all that burning, and it’s not a pleasant feeling. Not at all. I think it’s a very young whisky in there, with plenty of colouring to make it look a bit aged. Overall, I’m not impressed, but I’m also not at all surprised, considering the price of this bottle.

I found this bottle, just called Filthy Smoke, in a lone whisky shop on the outskirts of England. And I haven’t seen it in London ever since. This is a 10-year-old single malt [so from a single unknown distillery], most likely from Islay, produced by Atom Brands. These folks are behind Drinks By The Dram, & Whisky and That Boutique-y Whisky Company, and I’m usually impressed with their output. The bottle proudly lists all of those “dirty-sounding chemical compounds” which make up the flavours of the peated drams: phenol, guaiacol, and syringol. It also says that a small portion of the spirit was finished in “gunpowder” and “sulphury” sherry casks to add that “prime rib char” to the flavour. Yes, that can indeed make the mouth water. So how’s the whisky? It’s definitely softer and smoother without that bitter bite on the sides of my tongue, with plenty of smoke. It’s not your typical Laphroaig, and it’s closer to Ardbeg but a bit away from Caol Ila. It could be Bunna, but I’m not sure. It’s very tasty with subsequent sips, especially if you are into Islay single malts. There is some roundness to it and even some umami, but at this ABV of 42.8%, it’s definitely chill-filtered, and who knows if it is coloured. Here, I decided to slightly cheat, and pour a glass on the side of Johnnie Walker‘s Black Label, Islay Origin 12-year-old [I’ll cover that someday on here]. I do that to see if any other notes will bubble up (the JW is mostly Lagavulin and Caol Ila). The Filthy Smoke has a tang of sweetness to it that I really like, and yes, it almost reminds me of grilled sweet ham and bar-b-que.

Distillery / Region	Various “Island Smoke” / Various	Undisclosed “Filfthy Smoke” / Islay
Producer	Gordon Graham & Co / Distell Group	Undisclosed
Bottler / Series	Black Bottle / Alchemy Series	Atom Brands
Stated Age / Vintage	NAS	10 years old / 2021
Cask type	Various	Ex-bourbon (?) + sherry cask finish
ABV / Cask Strength	46.3% / Nope	42.8% / Nope
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	No / No	No / No
Price	£25	£ 35 [but for a 50ml]
Did it win? / Did I like it?	No / No – too much bitter grain	Yes / Yes
Would I buy it? / Recommend it?	No, but I may buy older bottlings / No	Yes / Yes for peat lovers!

So there you have it, folks. An interesting pairing. Perhaps I should have picked to pair Island Smoke against Black Label, after all. It mayhaps would have won (?). I just felt that with a name like that, it would stand up against the Filthy Smoke, at least a little. Island Smoke vs Filfthy Smoke, right? But no, it has collapsed. And that’s a shame. I’ve also read that earlier bottlings of Black Bottle were indeed a lot smokier and smoother with plenty of Islay whiskies in them. Jim Murray rated one Black Bottle a 94.5 (!) and another, later version of it, a mere 74.5. I guess I’ll have to find an older bottle at an auction to confirm this. Meanwhile, let’s end this post, and I’ll proclaim the Filfthy Smoke as the winner of this round.