I reviewed this about 13 months ago and since I posted a bourbon for American Thanksgiving yesterday, why not stay topical for Black Friday? This is the new packaging of Black Bottle. Sadly I never had a chance to try the old bottling.

Black Bottle (new packaging) – 40% ABV

• Appearance: deep copper orange. Definitely chock full of e150
• Nose: quite sweet. You can smell the grain spirit, but it is mostly masked by some pear and melon fruitiness.
• Taste: the fruit and sweetness is there with a smoky haze over top. Baked beets. Plenty of smoke but I wouldn’t say peat. A bit salty. A bit phenolic.
• Finish: short and smoky.
• Score: 74/100

this is a decent blend. I’d probably buy it again, if only as a beginner malt to serve to uninitiated friends. Not great, but not terrible and a nice source of peat when you just want some without thinking about it too much!