Williamson 6 year old by That Boutique-y Whisky Company

Review of Williamson 6 year old single malt by That Boutique-y Whisky Company. That Boutique-y Whisky Company is an independent bottler. Their range includes limited edition single malts, single grains and bourbons from various renowned distilleries. They also produce blended malts and blends.

That Boutique-y Whisky Company (TBWC) is owned by Atom Brands which is the company behind Master of Malt alcohol eCommerce shop. Following the success of Master of Malt, the founders started visiting distilleries around the world selecting single casks for creating TBWC blends or single cask bottlings.

TBWC whiskies are adorned with cultish graphic novel-style labels by Emily Chappell. Labels may feature tales regarding distillery history, prominent figures from the whisky industry or some other cool stuff.

This whisky in question comes from Laphroaig distillery but TBWC has bottled it under the name of Williamson, in honor of Bessie Williamson who was the owner of Laphroaig distillery during 1954-1972. Bessie Williamson was the only woman to own and manage a Scotch whisky distillery in the 20th century and she has largely influenced on Laphroaig’s success.

The single malt is batch 2 bottled in 2017. Only two batches of 0,2 liter bottles were made and this second one, consisting 990 bottles, went exclusively to Finnish retail market in honor of Finland’s 100 years of independence.

The label features LivingRoom Whisky blog’s authors John and Mike, in Back To The Future movie theme. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, as sci-fi fan, I used to love that movie. So needless to say, I love this label. And I was amazed to see it made exclusively for Finns!

Review of Williamson 6 Year Old by That Boutique-y Whisky Company

Label on the back of the bottle: “That Boutique-y Whisky Company was founded to bring forgotten dreams from some of the world’s best distilleries to the whisky-craving masses. Our limited edition labels are hand-illustrated and designed with a nod towards whimsicality, often incorporating whisky industry “in-jokes”.”

How can a Laphroaig be so smooth?

When a regular Laphroaig is usually a peaty kick in the throat, this TBWC bottling is smooth as a peated whisky ever can be. Even though it’s so young. But that’s what small casks do, mature the whisky faster. I’m guessing that they used very small casks because of the smoothness and small batch sizes. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any information about maturation.

When I started tasting whiskies I never would’ve guessed I say this: I have a gentle smoky Laphroaig in my cabinet.

ABV: 46%

Colour: Golden amber

Nose: Softly peaty with iodine and smoky meat. Red berries rise from the peat. Turns into pleasant notes of sugary vanilla. Ends with cotton candy and lemon notes. Drops of water makes things mellow, giving away floral and phenolic notes.

Taste: Minerals and salt, along with soft peat smoke. After a while, peat gets sweet but quickly turns ashy and bit dry. Hints of citrus notes. Drops of water and time in the glass bring seaweed and other typical Laphroigian notes but in a smooth package.

Finish: Quite dry peat. Oak notes are very strong. Stingy and fast smoke appears, like quick bonfire on the back of your throat. Unripe red berries very late in the aftertaste.

Balance: Very smooth peated whisky. Pleasant to drink and nose. Easy to enjoy, young age doesn’t show as much as I expected. Aromas are definitely the best part, offering smooth, rich and balanced peat smoke. Palate is easy and enjoyable, though quite one-sided. “Clinical Laphroaig”.