Review #852 - Port Askaig Cask Strength (Batch 1)
As the Port Askaig brand from Elixir Distillers has built out their core range, one of their more recent releases is this cask strength Islay single malt. There's no source distillery disclosed on the bottle or the website, but this whisky comes from Caol Ila, which is just down the coast from the town of Port Askaig that gives this brand its name.
There's no age statement on this bottle either, but it's generally made up of whisky aged between 6 and 12 years. The cask regimen for this first batch was a combination of refill ex-bourbon casks (roughly 75% of the batch) and new toasted American oak barrels (the other 25% of the batch); at the end of maturation, this batch's cask strength is 59.4% ABV.
Port Askaig Cask Strength (Batch 1)
Scotland/Islay - Single Malt
Price: USD 84 (2026)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 59.4% ABV
Cask Makeup: Refill ex-bourbon and toasted American oak casks
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; bottled 2023; 9,000 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle at 50% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a nosing glass rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Light and bright, quite fresh, with vanilla and lemons as the dominant scents. There is some peat smoke, but it starts out more subtle; this grows a bit more musty with time, and we also get buttered toast.
Palate: The mouthfeel is thick; this is spicy or sharp to start, but we also get lemon bars, more sweetness from caramel and toffee, and subtle peach fruit. The peat smoke is now quite strong.
Finish: Buttery, with lingering peat and some heat from the spirity strength. Lemon and hints of mango waft in, and this is a long finish.
Final Note: This is a solid Islay single malt, one that displays some of that classic heavily-peated distillate that the island is known for. It's a bit fresh and youthful, but not in a bad way - just a bright, punchy, vibrant peated whisky with moderate complexity.
The value proposition for this bottle is decent - we think this is a very fair price for a cask strength Islay single malt, and Caol Ila distillate is so solid, we expect further batches to be quite good as well.
Our Rating: 7.0 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.39
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other Port Askaig reviews:
Review #842 - Port Askaig 17 Year (2023)
