Rock Island Mezcal Cask Edition

Weekends are my time to cook. Twenty years now into my marriage, and without fail, it’s always Monday through Thursday the wife cooks; Friday is eat out; Saturday and Sunday is my turn. Whereas I feel the weekday is more sustenance and normal middle of the road, the weekends is where things get creative. Maybe it’s because there’s a certain luxury knowing if I fuck up, we can order out. The weekdays, on the other hand, there is no time to fuck up. So, today is my turn, and I have vegetable Wellington with red pepper sauce on the menu. Now, when I cook, I need to imbibe on something. I got this habit from an old roommate of mine ( we’ll call her S). S wasn’t so much a roommate, but rather a non-rent paying friend who was dating my best friend back in MBA business school. In return of her not paying rent, she always made dinner. Every night. From scratch. Yeah, who needs a damn school cafeteria when one has a built in chef. And she was freakin amazing in the kitchen. But I noticed that she always got much better the more she drank. After a finishing a 1/4 bottle of Jack every night while cooking, she’d then pass out, leaving me with an amazing meal to enjoy on my own. And all I had to do was buy her bottle of whiskey every few days. And that takes me to today. Every weekend, I feel, in honor of S ( who’s now happily married, a professional chef, albeit with a mild case of alcoholism ), I now have a dram while cooking. Tonight’s pour is this Rock Island Mezcal cask. Nose is smoky, Islay. No doubt. Probably a Caol Ila. I’m getting brine, salt, smoke, sea spray on the palette. But where’s the mezcal? I’m a huge fan of mezcal, and I was hoping for layers of differing smoke. This feels more like just Islay than Islay + mezcal. I feel a bit disappointed. It’s a good pour, but it’s just a normal young Islay. There are no mezcal qualities that I was able detect. On the other hand, my Wellington turned out fabulous. S would be proud.

I'm not the biggest fan of mezcal, but this is a very interesting whisky. The nose brings a bit of lemon, red apple, vanilla, campfire smoke, saltwater, roasted veggies, agave. The palate leans more heavily into the savory notes, roasted vegetables, agave, brine, smoke, along with a little pear and vanilla. On the finish sweet comes out a little more, along with the agave and smoke. I haven't ever tried the regular Rock Island, also I think formerly known as Rock Oyster, but i imagine I would like it as a fan of many of the Island distilleries. The mezcal finish seems to accentuate the savory and smoky elements in the peated whiskies, and I really enjoy it. Big thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample!