Smokehead Extra Rare 1l (Ian Macleod)

Smokehead Extra Rare 1l is a single malt whisky.

The word 'single' causes some confusion for many. A single malt is nothing more and nothing less than a product from a single distillery. So it has nothing to do with a single cask or even casks of the same age.

Single malt whisky is made from malted barley and distilled in the famous copper pot stills, the distinctive copper stills.

Yes, Smokehead Extra Rare 1l is a no age statement (NAS) whisky. But what exactly does that mean?

According to the rules, when an age is stated on the bottle, it must always be the youngest whisky in the blend and not the age that is the most represented percentage-wise in the blend. A producer will therefore consciously choose not to state an age on his bottle in two cases: when an old whisky is blended with a small proportion of younger whisky, or when young whisky is blended with a proportion of older whisky. In the first case, he does not want to put a young age on his bottle if his blend contains mainly older whisky, and in the second case, from a marketing point of view it is more interesting to go out with that particle of older whisky.

No, Smokehead Extra Rare 1l is not a single cask whisky.

No, Smokehead Extra Rare 1l is not whisky at cask strength.

Although this Smokehead Extra Rare 1l is not or does not have explicit gift packaging, it can certainly make an excellent gift. Gift packs are usually taken as a safe choice of gift because brands often combine the most accessible or their most popular whisky combine with a fun accessory in a nice gift pack. But if you are looking for a gift for an experienced whisky-drinker they may not be waiting for yet another glass and then this one Smokehead Extra Rare 1l might even be a better choice than such a gift pack.

This Smokehead Extra Rare 1l can be a whisky one that suits you if you like a whisky with a smoky character. Indeed, the peat flavour is quite prominent in the flavour profile.

However, we recommend that you also look at the rest of the flavour profile, as this peatiness is of course only one part of the overall character of this whisky.

Yes, Smokehead Extra Rare 1l is a whisky with a reasonably peated flavour profile: the smokiness of this whisky will be unmistakable with every sip. However, it is more moderate than in the most intensely peated whisky.

Peaty, smoky or peat is a typical flavour associated with a particular type of whisky. It is a flavour you have to (learn to) love.

On its own, yes, but this Smokehead Extra Rare 1l is one whisky with only a slightly spicy flavour profile: the spiciness of this whisky is not emphatic in the flavour profile, but it is there.

The spiciness of a spirit can come about in different ways.

• In whisky, the spicy notes mainly arise during the maturation process in wooden casks. The type of wood used (e.g. American oak, European oak) and whether the casks have been used before (e.g. sherry casks) have a big influence on the spiciness of the whisky that comes out of them.
• With rum, the spicy notes can also come from the barrels used, but in addition there is also a separate class of "Spiced rum" where extra spices are added.
• Gin has a much shorter production cycle and therefore does not usually get its spiciness from wood. Spicy notes in a gin are usually the direct result of the botanicals used to "colour" the gin and give it its own identity.

On its own, yes, but Smokehead Extra Rare 1l is a whisky with only a slightly fruity flavour profile: the fruitiness of this whisky is hidden in the flavour profile, balanced with the other parts of the profile.

• Whiskies with a fruity character can range from light and fresh apple notes to deep, ripe stone fruit and exotic aromas. This fruitiness can come from the grains, yeast and fermentation used, the shape of the pot stills and the cask type.
• Rum made from sugar cane or molasses lends itself ideally to fruity notes. From the fresh citrus aromas of a white rum to the deep pineapple and banana notes of an aged variety - fruitiness is an essential characteristic in many rums. Again, the same factors affect fruitiness as with whisky.

Whether you drink this Smokehead Extra Rare 1l whisky best with or without ice is a personal choice. We have always chosen not to take a stance on adding water or ice to whisky. There are certainly good reasons to add a little water to your whisky, but whether it adds value to you or detracts from your enjoyment is something you should mainly discover for yourself.

This whisky from Smokehead has a normal alcohol content. Within whisky alcohol levels of up to 43% are most common.

Smokehead Extra Rare 1l is a whisky of the Smokehead brand bottled by the independent bottler Ian Macleod. That makes this bottle an independent bottling.

To make an Irish Coffee according to the rules of the art, you need an Irish whiskey. Since you are going to mix it with coffee and whipped cream, we recommend using a good, but not overpriced whiskey. This Smokehead Extra Rare 1l is a whiskey, but because this whiskey comes from Scotland it is not the best choice to make a "real" Irish Coffee.

Did you know that the first Irish Coffee was invented in 1942 by bartender Joe Sheridan? He was working at the airport in Foynes, in the west of Ireland. The barman saw some tired passengers and figured they needed coffee with something special. To perk them up, he poured them coffee with a dash of whiskey mixed in and some coffee on top. When asked if it was Brazilian coffee, Sheridon replied, "No, my friend, this is Irish Coffee." And so it was.

According to the data currently available to us, we cannot state with certainty that this product is vegan and this claim is not explicitly made by the brand.

Based on the information available to us, we can conclude that this Smokehead Extra Rare 1l whisky from Smokehead is not an organic product.

Many people assume that a more expensive bottle of Scotch whisky is automatically better. It sounds logical: the higher the price, the better the quality. But in reality, the difference between a bottle of a few tens and one worth thousands of euros is rarely purely in the taste. What you pay has much more to do with age, scarcity, marketing and reputation than with what you actually taste in your glass.

To understand this properly, it helps to look at Scotch in different "levels". Each level tells you something about what you are drinking and, more importantly, what you are paying for, but not every epicurean goes through all these levels.

You can read all about it in our blog post Why an expensive Scotch doesn't necessarily taste better - the different levels of Scotch.

There are several places in Belgium and the Netherlands where you can whisky can order, but there are some specific reasons why Drankenshop Broekmans is the best place to order these Smokehead Extra Rare 1l and numerous other Smokehead whisky order:

• Fair and correct prices
• Up and coming Belgian family business, led by Jan Broekmans and based in Zolder, Limburg, since the beginning
• More than 35 years of experience in our physical shop in Zolder
• More than 8500 references in stock and immediately available: ordered before 10 am, shipped the same day!
• Breakage-free shipping thanks to our own developed packaging
• No rubbish or plastic on delivery: all our packaging and padding can simply be put in the paper bin
• Free shipping from 150 euro
• Customer service readily available via e-mail to help with and answer all your questions, concerns and possible problems you might encounter
• Save loyalty tokens automatically with every purchase and exchange them later for access to exclusive bottlings
• Customers reward us with a 9.6 out of 10 based on more than 680 reviews on Kiyoh, and with a 4.9 out of 5 based on more than 450 reviews on Trustpilot
• Drankenshop Broekmans has carried the official Becom Trustmark for years and has won several e-commerce awards in recent years for their logistics and payment processing, among other things