Callington Mill Quagmire Peated Single Malt Whisky
Associations with problematic characters from American adult animation series notwithstanding, I like the name Quagmire; a reference to the bogs from which peat, the substance traditionally used for smoking malt for whisky, comes from. This is Callington Mills’ core peated whisky, matured in a combination of Spanish sherry and Portuguese port casks. The smoke is immediately apparent on the nose with the bandaids-and-pencil-shavings bravado that makes some people love (and some people love to hate) the smoky whiskies of Scotland. Still, there’s subtlety and complexity, with the sweetness of fortified wine a powerful counterpoint to the smoke, and there’s not so much of the ashy, campfire aggressiveness often associated with peated Scotch. On the palate, those fortified casks do their job with aplomb for a sweet, easy drinking experience, with the graphite smokiness lingering just as it should through the finish.
