Gouden Carolus Blaasveld Broek / 46%/ 0.7l

Gouden Carolus whisky has been produced in the Belgian De Molenberg Distillery since 2003.

Its creator is Charles Leclef, owner of the Het Anker brewery, who, encouraged by his success, built a new distillery on his family estate two years after the debut of his single malt. In 2021, a slightly peated version of this whisky, Gouden Carolus Blaasveld Broek, hit the market, in our opinion the first Belgian whisky with a similar profile. Its name refers to the former peat bog (now a nature reserve) located at the distillery's headquarters, the village of Blaasveld, although the malt for this edition is imported from Aberdeen in Scotland. The whisky is aged in first-fill bourbon barrels and so-called STR (shaved, toasted and re-charred), i.e. "scraped, roasted and burnt".

Nose: slightly peaty, apples, pears, gooseberries, vanilla, crème brûlée, orange peel, traces of pine needles and peat smoke.

Palate: sweet, vanilla pudding, brown sugar, honey, baked apples, orange zest, a pinch of white pepper and salt and a trace of smoke in the background.

Finish: not too long, with notes of vanilla, brown sugar, citrus, a bit of smoke and ash.