Just in time for summer, Agitator Whisky Maker is launching this year’s “holiday whisky.” A mildly smoky whisky with hints of salt, dried fruit, and licorice tones. Lean back, enjoy your time off, accompanied by a whiskey that takes you on an emotional journey around Europe; from Jerez in southern Spain, via Islay in Scotland, to the quaint town of Arboga.
Whisky enthusiasts, get ready for a new taste experience! We are delighted to announce the release of our latest product, a limited-edition whisky aged in small casks, also known as quarter casks, previously used for maturing Islay whisky and casks that originally contained Pedro Ximenez Sherry.
PX sherry is a sweet dessert wine made from the Pedro Ximenéz grape variety in the Jerez region of southern Spain. It is renowned for its rich, intense, and complex flavor profile. PX sherry is sweet due to the sun-drying of grapes, resulting in a high sugar concentration. Flavor-wise, it develops notes of dried fruits such as figs and dates. PX sherry is aged for an extended period in oak barrels. These barrels, having previously held Islay whisky, eventually found their way to Arboga, where they were filled with Agitator’s whisky.
On the Isle of Islay, off the west coast of Scotland, they are known for producing a heavily peated whisky. The smokiness comes from the malted barley, which is dried using peat. The climate also imparts a salty taste to the whisky.
In Argument Islay PX, we take you on a journey through Europe where we have chosen to mature our vacuum-distilled whiskey from Arboga in carefully selected casks from two of Europe’s prominent beverage regions to enrich it with both Islay and Sherry character. Throughout our whisky, we have used malt with a 40 ppm level of peat influence. It is a blend of distillate from our low-reflux and high-reflux stills. The majority comes from our low-reflux still, which provides a maltier style and pleasant oily smoky notes. This is combined with distillate from the high-reflux still, to add a bit of fruitiness and playfulness. The result is a lightly smoky whiskey with hints of salt and notes of sweet licorice, nougat, and dried fruit.
We wanted to create a smoky whiskey, lightly influenced by sherry, but with its defining character coming from the more medicinal smokiness contributed by Islay casks. A complex blend, with depth and a touch of light estery floral notes, says Oskar Bruno, Distillery Manager at Agitator.
For a stronger culinary experience, try pairing the whisky with blue cheese or aged cheddar cheese. The creaminess of the blue cheese balances out the smokiness of the whiskey. For those with a sweet tooth, we recommend trying it with dark chocolate (preferably 70% cocoa content or higher). The sweet tones from Pedro Ximénez sherry complement the cocoa flavor beautifully.
