Categories: Whisky Reviews

Review #4: AD Rattray Cask Islay

Like many blended scotch brands, AD Rattray was known to us first as a favored rum blend brand while drinking through the rums at Smuggler’s Cove. We were excited to find this (very reasonably) priced bottle at K&L Spirits and scooped it up immediately.

Cask Islay in front of a shelf of our burgeoning whisky collection

Quick overview of our scoring system


Review

Tastes likes it noses. There’s a light bandage component weaved in with honeysuckle, cantaloupe, and lemon. The taste is rather delicate for an Islay (rather than the strong peat of a Laphroaig). Light end notes move from nice sweetness back into bandage territory. It tastes like what it’s advertised to be: a gateway into Islay for non-Islay drinkers. However, it may not be punchy enough for true peat fiends.


Additional Information

  • ABV 46%
  • “Cask Islay” originally was released as a blended whisky but now is a single malt from an unnamed (trade secret) Islay distillery and aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry barrels. Some guess Caol Ila.

More Info on AD Rattray

  • AD Rattray was originally named “A Dewar Rattray” after the ancestor of the founder Tim Morrison but the company lost a legal battle with Dewar’s whisky
  • AD Rattray also produces the inexpensive Bank Note blended scotch ($22/Liter!)
  • Morrisons are a whisky family: Tim is the son of Stanley Morrison who purchased Bowmore in 1963 and owned it until 1994. Tim Morrison and his brother purchased Auchentoshan in 1984
Sylvia L

Recent Posts

Pandan Express Cocktail Recipe

I've experimented with infusing a few spirits, but I find it plays incredibly well with…

3 years ago

Eastern Cork, Riff on the Corktown Cocktail

A few years back we visited Boston's Eastern Standard bar and wrote about our experience.…

3 years ago

Birch Tree by Nomad Bar

Coffee liqueuer, Amaro Nonino, sweet vermouth, aged aquavit, and cognac

3 years ago

Review #128: Edradour: The Fairy Flag 15 Year Review

Sylvia received a handful of samples when she visited Big Market, an incredible whisky shop…

3 years ago

Review #127: Sovereign Laphroaig Single Cask Whisky Review

The Sovereign is a sub-brand of the venerable Hunter Liang. I think they originally set…

3 years ago

Breakfast Negroni Cocktail – A Fistfull of Cocoa Puffs

the highlight of the last Negroni Week was Wildhawk's Breakfast Negroni cocktail. The star ingredient…

3 years ago

This website uses cookies.