The Snake Pit – A Blackadder Tasting

An introduction to the quirky, delicious single cask offerings from independent whisky bottler Blackadder. If you’re not familiar with these guys (I definitely wasn’t), you should be. They’re a family affair whose philosophy is best summed up by their motto “Cask is King” and they seem pretty passionate about presenting great whiskies at affordable prices – and without any added colouring or excessive (or in some cases any at all) filtration. The results are delicious!

“A Drop of the Irish”
Bottler: Blackadder. Distillery: Undisclosed – generally suspected to be Bushmills but Cooley Distillery gets the nod from some. Age: NAS. Type: Single Cask Irish. Region: Ireland. Distillation date: N/A Bottling date: May 2018. ABV: 46% Maturation: Ex-Bourbon. Outturn: 269 bottles Price: $159.90 (tax in) @ Strathcona Liquor

NOSE: fruits (green apples, peaches, other tree fruits), floral notes, delicate perfume, some savoury notes (deli meats, BBQ) come on over time, vanilla and bourbon notes, oak

PALATE: wood notes come on strong at first, along with some nice malt and cereal notes, there’s also hints of perfume and florals lingering around in the background, the mouthfeel is deliciously creamy and there’s a surprising amount of nutty/buttery creaminess

FINISH: long and lingering with enough heat and spice to keep it all interesting… and to keep you wanting one more sip (long)

OVERALL: A lovely Irish whisky – balanced, complex and eminently drinkable! Liked it so much I bought one.

“RED Snake” March 2017 Bottling
Bottler: Blackadder. Distillery: Not disclosed. Age: NAS. Type: Single Malt Whisky. Region: Unknown. Distillation date: N/A Bottling date: March 2017. ABV: 59.8% Maturation: Ex-bourbon barrels. Outturn: 284 bottles. Price: $154.90 (tax in) @ Strathcona Liquor

NOSE: some funky sourness to start (that’s never a bad thing – think of something like opening a bag of raisins or walking through a warehouse full of old wine barrels), florals, savoury notes, white pepper, citrus, apples, cashews, grassy notes

PALATE: very creamy mouthfeel, lots of malt notes, some oak, there’s also some nice salt brine and decent amounts of spice and peppery heat

FINISH: starts of with a solid helping of heat and warmth (it’s almost 60% ABV) but soon mellows to a kind of salted caramel sweetness (long)

OVERALL: it’s a bit “hot” due to the high ABV and a little rough around the edges (the consensus was that it was probably pretty young whisky) but it’s surprisingly sweet and well-balanced. A great pick me up whisky after a cold day on the water.

“RED Snake” February 2017 Bottling
Bottler: Blackadder. Distillery: Not disclosed. Age: NAS. Type: Single Malt Whisky. Region: Unknown. Distillation date: N/A Bottling date: February 2017. ABV: 60.4% Maturation: 1st Fill Ex-bourbon barrels. Outturn: 275 bottles. Price: $154.90 (tax in) @ Strathcona Liquor

NOSE: some floral notes, some savoury spices and a bit of funkiness, but pretty closed for the most part and never really did open up even with time

PALATE: oak, malt, some generic sweet notes, mouthfeel was decently creamy, some brine/salinity with a fair bit of tannic (think sucking on a tea bag) dryness

FINISH: quite peppery and spicy (and not just due to the high ABV) and a little one-dimensional (medium-long)

OVERALL: perhaps a bit too spicy for the delicatel sweet notes but still pretty drinkable if a titch unbalanced. Again, on other nights, this probably would have been a standout whisky but it was up against some pretty stellar drams.

“BLACK SNAKE”
Bottler: Blackadder. Distillery: Not disclosed. Age: NAS. Type: Single Malt Whisky. Region: Unknown. Distillation date: N/A Bottling date: June 2017. ABV: 60.7% Maturation: 1st Fill Bourbon then Solara Vatting. Outturn: 580 bottles. Price: $154.90 (tax in) @ Strathcona Liquor

NOSE: wine must and funk, cashews, a hint of pepper, some nice wood notes, white chocolate, malt, some smoke

PALATE: oak, funkiness, sweet desserts, white chocolate, mouthfeel not as creamy as the others but still very respectable

FINISH: a little bit “thin” (surprising given the high ABV) but finishes with some decent sweetness and some delicate spice (medium)

OVERALL: on any other night this would probably have been the standout whisky of the evening but against some of the others in the lineup it dropped down a bit in the rankings

“PEAT REEK”
Bottler: Blackadder. Distillery: Not disclosed but generally suspected to be a Caol Ila Age: NAS. Type: Single Malt Whisky. Region: Islay. Distillation date: N/A Bottling date: November 2018. ABV: 46% Maturation: Hogshead. Outturn: 343 bottles. Price: $179.90 (tax in) @ Strathcona Liquor

NOSE: smoke, cured meats, salt brine, floral notes, wet wool blankets

PALATE: smoke, peat, cured meats, lots of sweetness, cherry cola, salt brine, grassiness

FINISH: it’s a bit thin but the smoke and cured meat notes linger nicely (medium-long).

OVERALL: I was left wondering what could have been if this had been bottled at a higher ABV as the smoke and cured meat character had me wishing for something a fair bit “meatier.” But still very drinkable and on a cold, wet winter’s night would be pretty near perfect.

“RAW CASK LEDAIG”
Bottler: Blackadder. Distillery: Ledaig Age: 17 years. Type: Single Malt Whisky. Region: Islands. Distillation date: October 2001. Bottling date: January 2019. ABV: 58.3% Maturation: Hogshead. Outturn: 297 bottles. Price: $299.90 (tax in) @ Strathcona Liquor