Dubhghlas Peatsie Palo Cortado Review – The First Whiskies of a Young Dutch Distillery
Yesterday I announced that it is Dubhghlas Week here at DRAM1, and today we get to do what all that talk about stills, engineering, peat and two wonderfully passionate people from Zwartsluis was ultimately leading towards: put their whisky in a glass.
Or perhaps I should say one of their first whiskies. Dubhghlas Distillery has entered the whisky world with three inaugural releases at once, all single casks and all bottled at cask strength. I will be reviewing all three this week, but we are starting with the one that immediately caught my attention: Dubhghlas Peatsie Palo Cortado, matured in a first-fill Palo Cortado quarter cask and bottled at a rather formidable 62.80% ABV.
Cees and Laura are very dear friends of mine, and seeing Dubhghlas whisky finally sitting in front of me makes this anything but an emotionally neutral bottle to open. But friendship doesn’t get you free points on DRAM1. If anything, reviewing whisky made by people I care about makes me even more determined to separate my excitement for what they have achieved from what is actually happening in the glass. Fortunately, as it turns out, there is quite a lot happening in this particular glass.
Listen to the Dubhghlas Peatsie Palo Cortado Review:
Peatsie, Palo Cortado and the beginning of Dubhghlas Whisky
There couldn’t really have been a more appropriate way for Dubhghlas to introduce itself. Cees and Laura have always said their malt whiskies would be released as single casks at cask strength, leaving the drinker to decide whether or not to add water. Their whisky is also produced without added colouring and is non-chill filtered. It is a philosophy that fits a tiny craft distillery rather beautifully: rather than trying to make every batch taste exactly like the previous one, let each cask tell its own story.
Peatsie is the peated side of that story, tying into the peat history surrounding Zwartsluis and the wetlands of the region. For this inaugural expression, that spirit has spent its maturation in a first-fill Palo Cortado quarter cask, resulting in just 138 bottles at 62.80% ABV. It was distilled on 25 January 2023 and bottled on 4 August 2026, making this a three-year-old whisky in legal terms, even if what I find in the glass often tastes considerably more mature than those numbers suggest.
And then there is the Palo Cortado itself, one of the more fascinating styles in the Sherry world. The name is often surrounded by a little mystery. Palo refers to the slash traditionally marked on a cask containing a wine initially intended for biological ageing. When certain characteristics lead the cellar master to redirect that wine towards oxidative maturation, another line is drawn through the original palo, effectively “cutting” it: cortado. Palo Cortado consequently occupies a rather wonderful stylistic space, traditionally combining something of the aromatic finesse of Amontillado with the fuller body and structure associated with Oloroso.
It is also an exceptionally rare style of Sherry.
Almost as rare as an inaugural whisky from Dubhghlas Distillery, one might say.
Tasting Notes: Dubhghlas Peatsie Palo Cortado
Stats:
- Category: Wetland Single Malt Dutch Whisky
- Distillery: Dubhghlas Distillery Zwartsluis
- Series: Peatsie
- Distilled: 25 January 2023
- Bottled: 4 August 2026
- Age: 3 years
- Cask Type: 1st Fill Palo Cortado Quarter Cask
- Cask Number: 32WM230125
- Number of Bottles: 138
- ABV: 62.80%
- Colour: Natural Colour
- Chill Filtration: Non-Chill Filtered
- Flavour Profile: Spice Market Heat
Three years, a small quarter cask and 62.80% ABV immediately tell you that subtlety probably wasn’t particularly high on the agenda here. Smaller casks provide a greater wood-to-spirit ratio than their larger counterparts, and combined with a first-fill Palo Cortado cask there was every opportunity for the oak and previous occupant to leave a serious mark. The question isn’t whether this is going to be intense. It is whether the young spirit can stand up to all of that intensity.
Nose
The first thing that comes to mind is boterbabbelaars, those wonderfully old-fashioned Dutch butter caramel sweets. There is a creamy, buttery caramel quality immediately pouring from the glass, quickly accompanied by plump sultanas and a bowl of warm porridge. Considering the strength, the alcohol doesn’t attack the nose nearly as aggressively as I expected, although there is certainly no hiding the concentration.
Things get considerably stranger from there, and frankly that is where Peatsie starts winning me over. Old leather creeps in underneath the sweetness, accompanied by a small whiff of sulphur that adds something earthy and slightly grubby rather than becoming distracting. Then comes the note that I suspect will divide people more than anything else in this whisky: blue cheese.
I realise that probably isn’t going to appear on Dubhghlas marketing material anytime soon, but I absolutely love it. There is this creamy, savoury, slightly funky blue-cheese character that reminds me of something I occasionally encounter in Bruichladdich whisky. I happen to adore a good blue cheese, so combined with the butter caramel, sultanas, leather and porridge it gives the nose this wonderfully peculiar sweet-savoury personality.
Some people will hate that note. I am most definitely not one of them.
Palate
This is where Peatsie reminds you that there is 62.80% alcohol sitting in the glass.
It is rich, powerful and almost ridiculously viscous. Heavy syrup comes first, then molasses, dark treacle and maple syrup until the entire palate seems to have been coated in something thick and sticky. Calling a whisky syrupy can occasionally sound like criticism, but that isn’t how I mean it here. There is an enormous concentration of dark sweetness, yet enough woody, spicy and earthy character underneath to keep it from simply becoming cloying.
Sandalwood brings a fragrant woody quality before oolong tea introduces a slightly tannic, leafy edge. Then I find something remarkably specific: raisin All-Bran cookies. Grain, raisins, sweetness and that slightly dry cereal character all arrive together before a generous spoonful of homemade custard makes everything creamy again. There is a lot happening, but at full strength it can occasionally feel as though all those flavours are fighting to squeeze through the same doorway.
This is exactly where the Dubhghlas philosophy becomes relevant. Cees and Laura want these whiskies released as single casks at cask strength. They decide when the whisky is ready to leave the cask; what happens afterwards is left to us.
And my glass wants water.
Not just two ceremonial drops either. I appreciate a fair splash in Peatsie, because suddenly everything seems to exhale. The heavy treacle softens into warm caramel sauce and golden syrup, while the molasses becomes runny honey. Those raisin-heavy cereal notes turn into freshly baked oat biscuits with sultanas, and the sandalwood retreats towards polished oak and gentle baking spices.
The homemade custard remains, but now it is lighter and creamier, accompanied by stewed pear, baked apple and a little toasted almond. There is even a touch of orange peel appearing around the edges. Nothing has disappeared; the flavours have simply been given more room to move.
Neat, Peatsie shows me how powerful it is. With water, it shows me how good it can be.
Finish
The finish is long and quite the whirlwind.
Initially, Peatsie continues exactly where the palate left off. Thick apple syrup and burnt caramel provide plenty of sweetness, with sultanas once again making themselves known. It feels rich, dark and comforting for a moment, but gradually the balance begins shifting.
The oak starts tightening its grip as the sweetness fades. Liquorice root appears alongside freshly crushed peppercorns, bringing spice and a slightly bitter herbal quality. There is also an ever-so-slight popsicle-stick note along the sides of my tongue; that dry, woody sensation you get after absent-mindedly chewing on the stick once the ice cream itself is long gone.
Again, water does Peatsie plenty of favours. The apple syrup moves towards baked apple, the burnt caramel softens and the peppercorns become warmer baking spice. Raisins and sultanas seem juicier, while a little date and orange zest bring some brightness back into the increasingly tannic finish.
And just when I think it is finally done, Peatsie changes direction once more. Dark chocolate-covered mints appear alongside a distinct little hit of aniseed. The chocolate and cooling mint work beautifully for me. The aniseed, if I am completely honest, does not. It hangs around for quite some time too, although I can imagine someone with more affection for aniseed finding that lingering herbal sweetness rather lovely.
It is certainly not a boring finish.
Food Pairing
I can’t possibly find blue cheese on the nose this clearly and then recommend something else.
A good mature blue cheese feels almost purpose-built for Peatsie, particularly with a little fig chutney alongside it. The salt and funk of the cheese should play wonderfully against those sultanas, caramel and darker syrup flavours, while the fig connects with the dried-fruit richness coming from the cask. Mature cheeses and nuts are also classic companions for Palo Cortado itself, which makes the pairing feel even more appropriate.
For something sweeter, I would go dark rather than sugary. A dark chocolate tart, preferably with only a restrained amount of caramel, could mirror those chocolate and burnt-sugar notes towards the finish without piling sweetness on top of an already extremely rich whisky.
Who Is Dubhghlas Peatsie Palo Cortado For?
This isn’t the whisky I would pour for someone who tells me they prefer their drams light, delicate and easy-going. At 62.80%, matured in a first-fill Palo Cortado quarter cask and carrying everything from blue cheese and sulphur to treacle and liquorice root, Peatsie isn’t particularly interested in being universally approachable.
It is far better suited to drinkers who enjoy cask-strength whisky as something to explore. If you like sitting beside a glass with a jug of water and discovering how the whisky changes as you gradually bring the strength down, there is enormous fun to be had here. The fact that Dubhghlas hasn’t made that dilution decision for you feels particularly appropriate for a whisky this concentrated.
Sherry lovers should find plenty to enjoy too, although don’t expect a conventional raisin-and-chocolate sherry bomb. There are dried fruits and dark sweetness in abundance, but Peatsie has a funky, savoury and occasionally rather eccentric streak running through it.
Verdict
There is one thought I keep coming back to while drinking this: this is their first whisky.
Not their tenth release after years spent refining a house style. Not the product of an established distillery selecting from thousands of mature casks. This is one of the first three whiskies ever bottled by two people who built their own distillery in Zwartsluis, and the level of maturity and complexity they have managed to extract after little more than three years genuinely impresses me.
That doesn’t mean everything works perfectly.
At full cask strength I find the palate too concentrated to show everything it has to offer, and the oak begins becoming slightly too tannic for me during the latter stages of the finish. That lingering aniseed isn’t particularly to my taste either. And while I absolutely adore that bizarre blue-cheese note on the nose, I would be lying if I pretended everybody is going to feel the same way.
But that’s whisky. Flavour remains intensely personal.
What matters to me is that underneath those individual preferences there is an enormous amount of character here. Water opens the palate beautifully, turning some of that dense molasses and treacle into softer caramel, honey, fruit and baking spices, while simultaneously making the finish considerably more pleasant. It also vindicates, at least for me, the decision to bottle these whiskies at cask strength. My preferred drinking strength clearly isn’t 62.80%, but Dubhghlas hasn’t forced me to drink it there. I get to find the balance myself.
Take away my friendship with Cees and Laura for a moment. Take away the excitement of finally seeing the Dubhghlas name printed on a bottle of whisky. Take away the novelty of this being an inaugural release.
I would still be impressed by what is in this glass.
Final Thoughts
First releases are fascinating because they become permanent markers in a distillery’s history. Whatever Dubhghlas becomes five, ten or twenty years from now, there will only ever be one moment when people could open a bottle and taste its whisky for the very first time.
And I think Peatsie is a wonderfully appropriate way to begin that story.
It isn’t polished into anonymity. There are rougher edges here. There are flavours I love, flavours I don’t particularly care for and at least one tasting note that will probably have half of you reaching excitedly for a glass while the other half wonders whether I’ve completely lost my mind. But I would take that over a technically competent three-year-old whisky with absolutely nothing to say for itself every single time.
What impresses me most is how little Peatsie tastes like a whisky simply waiting to become older. The Palo Cortado quarter cask has given it enormous richness and maturity, but underneath that cask influence there is enough personality to suggest that Dubhghlas already has something worth following. The boterbabbelaars, porridge, leather, blue cheese, treacle, tea, custard and that constantly evolving finish give this whisky an identity I wasn’t expecting from something barely old enough to legally carry the word whisky.
And perhaps that is the biggest compliment I can give Cees and Laura.
I went into this tasting desperately hoping my friends had made a good first whisky. I came out of it thinking much more about what their whisky might become.
One inaugural Dubhghlas down.
Two to go.
