Jim McEwan Signature Collection 3.2, Port Charlotte 2008 Islay Barley , 12 year old, First Fill Bourbon Barrel, 58.8%

Jim McEwan Signature Collection 3.2, Port Charlotte 2008 Islay Barley , 12 year old, First Fill Bourbon Barrel, 58.8%

Distilled on the 5th December 2008 this whisky spent its whole 12-year life maturing in cask #3742. This maturation took place in a 1st Fill bourbon barrel from a mystery American distillery. This whisky must be considered a true islander and not only was it distilled and matured on the island but the barley used was grown only a stones throw from the distillery from ‘The Glebe’.

Bottled in June 2021 as Release 3.2 of the Jim McEwan Signature Collection, like all bottlings within the collection, it was bottled un-chill filtered, with no added colour, and at natural cask strength of 58.8% (Jim would have it no other way!), it yielded only 233 bottles.

Jim’s tasting notes;

Colour - Freshly Cut Barley Straw

Body - Muscular and full of Islay character

Aromas - It’s a smoky barley sugar and spicy bourbon combination. Then, as it opens the sweet crispiness of malted barley evolves. Gentle fruit notes emerge particularly pear drops and green apple. The aromatics of Islay are really outstanding, not just was the barley grown on Islay but the spirit matured on Islay!

Gentle Riverbank floral notes in harmony with the aromas of peat that is some thousands of years old is beautiful and cradled in ancient oak from Ozark Mountains in Kentucky, matured on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean and distilled by genuine Islay distillers with not a computer to be found in the Distillery!

The main ingredient in this spirit is the skill of the team who made it and they should never be forgotten. This is not my employment, it’s enjoyment and I loved every day of my time at the Distillery. It was a privilege to be part of the Brookie family who produced this classic peated Islay spirit and many others I am sure you know.