There are a lot of peat beasts, reeks, monsters and smokeheads on the market, some Vatted (ooops, I used an outlawed term) and some Single Malts of various quality. Such names speak directly to the lovers of a style, not a distillery. Macho statements on the bottles, like ‚this one takes no prisoners‘ or ’not for bird watchers‘, seem go with that and suggest that the whisky inside is for real tough guys, only. Well, let’s not discuss marketing … .
In case
of the Peat’s Beast, things are the same (‚untamed‘, ’not for the faint hearted‘, ‚monstrously peaty‘) but also a bit different. It is a Single Malt, a peaty one of good quality, but not from Islay. Of course, I would also underscore its peatiness to sell it to the phenol crowd. It is easily missed that it is no Islay Malt. Rumour has it that it is a BenRiach.
The friendly people at Kammer-Kirsch were so kind to provide German whisky clubs with a sample bottle, which I find a good way to introduce a new release. Let’s not judge this book by its burnt monster cover:
Peat’s Beast (Fox Fitzgerals Ltd.) Single Malt, 46%
Nose: 
Farmyardy and peaty in general, it renders elements of bonfire smoke, resin, pepper, Granny Smith apples, lemon zest, coffee beans and chalky oak. Brine, fallen autumn leafs and discrete vanilla sit in the backseat.
Palate/Finish: Just like above – and some green maltiness. The coffee and stable aromas lead into the finish with nice sulphur, peat and even iodine. The chalk joins in later. Not the most complex dram, but a very nice addition to the ‚everyday-peat-genre‘ – and one for a blind tasting 🙂 ! This is not inferior to Islay’s releases of that kind.
Score: 85