Distilia Foursquare Mizunara & PX Cask Finish (Silver Seal) 1998

Distilia, working through the collector-respected Silver Seal house, takes this 1998 Foursquare into unusual territory with a dual finish. At twenty-five years, single cask and bottled unsweetened at 52.5%, it pairs the recognisable Barbados base from Richard Seale's distillery with two distinctive cask influences, a single blend pushed somewhere new.

The foundation is the familiar pot-and-column Foursquare spirit, first matured in oak then finished in Pedro Ximenez and Japanese Mizunara casks. The result folds smoky, peated-whisky character and Mizunara's incense-like spice into the house coconut, oak and dried fruit. Aroma and palate echo each other on oak, coconut, smoke and dried fruit, while the finish leans woody and smoky with a peaty thread and lingering coconut. It is a layered, smoky-yet-sweet Foursquare that rewards patience and will speak most clearly to drinkers who also know peated single malt.