#LightOnDark Peated Whisky & Coconut Marshmallows

I entered a competition on Twitter from the @anCnoc_whisky distillery for a tasting kit to launch their new Peatheart whisky and won! A couple of days later they sent me through a large parcel.

It was a beautifully pictured box, inside were tasting notes, a tasting mat, samples of their 12 year old and new Peatheart whiskies and a marshmallow tasting kit box from @marshmallowist

At the appointed time I was to join a band of reviewers to taste and tweet about the whiskies, some of these boxes had been sent out to whisky bloggers or competition winners around Europe so it was a bit of a mixed language session!

There is an interesting difference between the bottles and drams on the theme of #LightOnDark the 12yo is sold in a clear (light) bottle and Peatheart in a black (dark) bottle....

 

...but when you pour the drams, the 12yo is darker than the Peatheart!

First up was the anCnoc 12 year old at 40%

My thoughts:

Nose: lots of honey and fresh cut grass, some orchard fruit notes, developing with vanilla and icing sugar, definitely pears in their somewhere.
Palate: a little oily, tongue coating. fresh warm honey, with a little spice. Honey dominates with the spice but there is some dryness towards the end - icing sugar again? and some vanilla.

Other people's thoughts:

 

Then on to anCnoc's latest release Peatheart at 46% and 40 ppm (The name comes from the heart of anCnoc - they say it's quintessentially anCnoc but it has a beating heart of solid, black peat.)

My thoughts:

Nose: gentle smoke, hints of saltiness and smoked fish, underneath are notes of stewed pears (thanks @ansgarspeller) with vanilla custard.
Palate: it starts similar to the 12yo - oily, buttery even, then the spice hits you - makes your tongue curl! Then there is a slap in the face from the peat smoke - this is wonderful stuff! Once you get past the smoke there are pears and vanilla again from the nose, some bitter chocolate and maybe a hint of coconut? Every whisky is different and every peated one is different - this hit's the spot perfectly!

Other people's thoughts:

 

 

Finally it was on to the marshmallow tasting kit from the marshmallowist:

Simple instructions told us how to light the burner and gently toast the coconut marshmallows

I'd saved a little of the Peatheart to enjoy with the marshmallows and that's exactly what I did - the peat smoke mingled nicely with the toasted coconut, and the icing sugar and coconut hints in the whisky complemented the sweet marshmallows. Mrs MaltMusing even stuck her head round the door for a taste after catching a whiff of the smell!

Some of our European friends had their own ideas on toasting marshmallows!

Many thanks to anCnoc and the marshmallowist for the box and my fellow twitters for making a thoroughly enjoyable evening!


Other reviews:
Peter Moser FOSM