Collection: Distillery Dive: Orcadian Spring

Distillery Dive #4: Orcadian Spring offers wild and wonderful aromas and flavours borne of sea and smoke. Springtime in a bottle awaits! Situated on the northernmost whisky-producing island in Scotland, Distillery #4 is known for using locally cut peat mixed with heather to produce a robust and earthy spirit with a thin veil of smoke. There is a gentler style of smokiness produced here that has become a gateway for many whisky lovers who are intrigued by peat smoke but not yet ready to tackle the bold and aggressive style of whisky produced by distillers further south. There is also the ability to produce rather intensely smokey malts for those peat lovers who crave a stronger appeal. The coastal influence in each cask adds yet another layer of complexity to the malts produced here. Many connoisseurs consider the malts of Distillery #4 to be the most well-rounded in the world!

Some of our distillery dives focus on maturation in different casks. Today, we take a different approach by examining whiskies after maturation in the same type of cask. Our dashing duo of single malts featured today were both distilled on January 28^th, 2008. After 9 years of aging in ex-bourbon hogsheads, they were vatted (married together) and ‘re-casked’ for 4 years of additional maturation in separate first-fill ex-bourbon barrels. The resultant whiskies will transport your senses across the Atlantic! Cask No. 4.314 Sitting in the sauna is the more robust of the pair with the terribly fun nose of sushi and burning herb bushes. Sweet and salty aromas and flavours, ex-bourbon barrel vanilla notes and that beautiful Orkney peat combine to offer up an intensely satisfying springtime sipper. Cask No. 4.315 No vikings need apply dons the “Oily & Coastal” flavour profile and delivers much more oceanic appeal, combining notes of dried seaweed, briny seawater, ashy smoke and much more. Citrus, mineral and medicinal notes add to the complexity of this dram with plenty of richness to coat the palate. Two equally delicious drams with plenty of flavour divergence from one another!