Claxton's Smoking Furnace

Claxton's are well known for their square Warehouse No. 1 bottles - they take up more than the usual amount of shelf space!

Recently Martin has released his own blend - I tried it at Kendal and was lucky enough to be given a sample to review.

Smoking Furnace was launched as part of Claxton's 'Core Range' which includes Grain Barn 30yo, Glencarrick 10yo & Red Comyn 12yo.

Bottler notes:

This blended Scotch whisky has been carefully created at the Dalswinton Bond using a high-peated malt content for a complex and smoky flavour.

Especially toasted and heavily re-charred oak casks have been selected to impart a sweet and extra smoky flavour.

This whisky has been finished in these casks for 12 months before being bottled at a perfect balance between oak and spirit to create the distinctive flavour of Smoking Furnace

Bottled at 46% ABV non-chill-filtered

Nose: Rich peat. Glace cherries, custard-creaminess. Bonfire notes. Menthol.

Palate: Sweet, earth-peat. Ripe stone fruits. Oak. Heather. Strudel. 

Finish: Long, sweet-smoky finish with hints of fruit-liqueur on the finish. 

 

Let's see what it's like.... 

Appearance: Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line which bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.

 

Nose: huge peat smoke notes to start - very earthy with a little heather note. There's some honey sweetness and some dried fruit. Official notes suggest Glace cherries but I'm more pulled towards strawberries and raspberries.

Palate: really oily arrival, sweet and spicy with a lovely blanket of smoke. The honey from the nose is here, loads of mixed berry jam and a little creamy toffee. There's some milk chocolate, liquorice and a lovely cinnamon spice. Dry ashy smoke covers everything.

Finish: Lingering dry spice, berries and cinnamon spice.

Overall: A really well balanced blend although to be honest you wouldn't know - it feels and drinks like a malt there's no 'rough' grain notes and not a lot of vanilla. A lovely balance of berry fruit, spice and smoke. It's incredibly oily on the palate, mouthcoating. Claxton's don't reveal the make up of the blend except to say there's a high malt content. I'm guessing Highland rather than Islay peat, Loch Lomond maybe?