There are moments in whisky writing when a bottle arrives that refuses to be categorised neatly. The Blackwater Turf Smoked Peat Return of Dragon PMD II is one such dram. A five-year-old single malt bottled at a formidable 59% ABV, it sits at a fascinating intersection of craft ambition and raw, youthful energy — and I mean that as a genuine compliment.
Let me be direct about what we're dealing with here. This is a cask-strength single malt that wears its peat credentials on its sleeve. The "Turf Smoked" designation tells you immediately that this isn't your standard barley-and-oak affair. The use of turf smoke as a flavouring agent connects this whisky to a tradition far older than the industrial peat kilns of Islay — it's a nod to an era when fuel source was geography, not choice. That alone makes it worth paying attention to.
At five years old, this is a young whisky, and there's no sense pretending otherwise. But youth at cask strength is a very different proposition to youth at 40%. The higher ABV preserves nuance that dilution would strip away, and it gives the spirit room to open up with water on your own terms. I've found that younger single malts bottled at full strength often reveal more of the distiller's intent than their age statement might suggest. This is a whisky that invites you to engage with it rather than simply drink it.
The "Return of Dragon PMD II" element of the name points to what appears to be a specific cask or batch selection — likely a continuation of an earlier release. These kinds of limited expressions are where smaller operations tend to do their most interesting work, unburdened by the need to maintain a house style across thousands of casks. What you get instead is a snapshot: a single idea, executed and bottled.
Tasting Notes
I'll be transparent — detailed tasting notes for this specific bottling are not yet available for publication. What I can tell you is that at 59% and with turf smoke at its foundation, you should expect a dram with considerable weight and warmth. The peat character from turf tends to sit differently on the palate than traditional peat — often earthier, sometimes with a herbaceous or grassy quality rather than the maritime medicinal punch of, say, an Islay malt. With only five years in wood, the spirit character will be prominent, and that's precisely the point.
The Verdict
At £108, this is not an impulse purchase, and it shouldn't be. You're paying for cask-strength conviction, a distinctive smoking method, and the kind of small-batch character that larger distilleries simply cannot replicate at scale. A score of 7.8 out of 10 reflects a whisky that delivers genuine interest and quality while still being young enough that you're partly buying into potential as much as polish. For the adventurous single malt drinker — particularly one who appreciates peat but wants something outside the usual Scottish suspects — this is well worth the investment.
Best Served
Pour it neat first and sit with it. Give it a full two minutes in the glass before nosing — at 59%, patience pays. Then add water gradually, a few drops at a time. A whisky at this strength is essentially a conversation between you and the cask, and water is how you steer it. I'd suggest working your way down to roughly 50% ABV equivalent, where the turf smoke character should express itself most clearly. Skip the ice entirely — you'd only be closing doors that water would open.
