With a name like the Peat Project, there’s no ambiguity about what you’re going to get. This Port Charlotte variant is a bit misleading in that it’s not a Port Charlotte scotch (the actual Port Charlotte distillery closed in 2009), but part of the Port Charlotte line of offerings from Bruichladdich. The main Bruichladdich whisky is predominantly floral for an Islay and not peated. Port Charlotte is where the peat happens, including their super-peated Octomore.
Wales has a long history of distilled beverages, but Penderyn is the country’s only current distillery. Founded in 2004, the distillery lays nestled in the Breacon Beacons and produces the world’s only Welsh single malt. One of the world’s smallest distilleries, Penderyn’s signature single malt, the Madeira won gold medals at the 2012 and 2013 International Whisky Competition. Can this new whisky on the block live up to the legends imbued in the history of the landscape?
Mackmyra was born of eight Swedish friends who loved good whisky. The Mackmyra First Edition, as the name implies, was their first wide release in 2008. The distillery exemplifies what we love to see foreign (i.e. non-Scottish) distillers do: embrace their own locality and make great whisky from what lays around them instead of seeking to emulate scotch. They continue to grow in output and accolades, but this first try is enough to give whisky drinkers ample notice.