London-based distillery Bimber is back with their very first peated whisky, aptly named The 1st Peated.
A very important milestone for the distillery, which has come a long way to make this whisky. Made from 100% own barley, it was then floor-malted and kilned using peat sourced from Aberdeenshire. And yes, they did that all themselves, by hand… Hard work, but the people at Bimber are happy to do it.
The barley was steeped three times in 40 hours, then turned every 8 hours over the next five days. Subsequently, it was dried in the kiln by using peat. After this, it was mashed and given a 7-day fermentation in their wooden washbacks before being distilled on direct-fired pot stills. Certainly not the easiest and cheapest way to make whisky, but that’s the Bimber way of doing things.
To create this single malt, they used the distillery’s first fully peated distillate, made in 2019. Which matured in 4 ex-bourbon casks before being bottled at a strength of 54.6% ABV. A welcome detail is that Bimber has put the in-bottle PPM (14.4) on the label, unlike most distilleries who choose to use the PPM after killing (50 in this case), Something I’ve already explained here. Anyway, let’s have a taste and see what this will bring.
Bimber The 1st Peated tasting notes:
Nose: a layer of peat combined with vanilla at first. Seaweed and brine, strangely enough. Charcoal. A hint of caramel fudge. Then finally, some fruit, like lemons, pineapple, and a hint of kiwi.
Taste: quite creamy and some lovely smoke too. It’s a bit salty. Notes of lemons and green apples, but also drizzle lemon cake. Vanilla custard, dark chocolate, and toffee. Later also charred wood and a light herbal note.
Finish: long, with more of that smoke, black pepper, and a hint of ginger.
Very well done! As we are used to from Bimber by now. Not super complex, but a tasty dram with a nice creamy mouthfeel and even a surprising note here and there. Seaweed and brine? Hello… We’re in London!
Sample provided by Bimber.
