Williamson 2013
Cask Type: Hogstead
Bottled: 2022
Age: 9
Region: Islay
No. of bottles: 307
ABV: 58.9%
Release: Winter Release 2022
Doug McIvor
“Immediately leathery and peaty to the nose yet there is a calming fruitiness which wraps around the early notes. Red berries shine through. The palate is layered with more leather and peat fighting the fruit but the honey texture allows the battle to fight on. Big and bold yet charming to the last.”
Tasting Notes
There’s a great Scottish exclamation to sum up the initial aromas: “jings!”. This is a massive whisky, with huge aromas of peat fires, ash and iodine. This is combined with a subtly spicy character from a glorious ex-Moscatel cask, giving notes of gingerbread, apricot and sultana bread. The palate is equally monstrous - Islay whisky at its vulgar best: peat smoke, leather and seaweed, all rounded by a hugely fruity cask which adds a luxurious mouthfeel. The thick texture adds length to the finish, giving more dried fruit and ash. It’s sudden, powerful, complex, lasting and memorable. Jings!
Distillery
The small Hebridean island of Islay is famous for heavily peat-smoke flavoured malt whiskies. Beyond the obvious peatiness, each Islay whisky offers its own signature. This classic expression uses the “trade name” Williamson and hails from the island’s south coast.
Ronnie says: “Bessie Williamson was the legendary manager at Laphroaig from the 1940’s until the early 1970’s and spokesperson for the Scotch Whisky Association in the USA where she toured during the 1960’s to promote the amber dew. Her early vision was such that she predicted the surge in popularity of single malts, particularly strongly peated gems such as this fine Islay.”