The second in the whisky x beer series, the duo of Edradour and Ballechin single casks is accompanied by an imperial stout brewed in France’s Lorraine region by the piggy Brewing company. After Peat Stop, matured in Kilchoman casks and released in 2021, Piggy Brewing is back with Repeat Stop, a thick and intense black beer with notes of peat and sherry aged for three months in Ballechin casks.

Repeat Stop is an Imperial Oatmeal Stout made with barley, wheat and oatmeal malts brewed by the Piggy Brewing Company near Nancy. In the same vein as the Peat Stop revealed, this high-strength black beer was aged this time in ex-sherry casks previously used for the peated Ballechin whisky. With an oily texture, it develops chocolate aromas from the roasted malts, animal, root, and smoke notes, and dried fruit aromas from its barrel aging.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Black Garnet.

Nose: Rich, and complex. The Repeat Stop’s first nose pays tribute to the great sherry cask Ballechins. Smoky Notes plunge us straight into BBQ preparations with pieces of meat roasting on the grill. With torrefaction always in play, the aromas make us feel like we’re in a coffee roasting house. Notes of soy sauce, tobacco, and polished leather reflect its exceptional depth.

Palate: Full-bodied, progressive. This oily version boasts a complexity worthy of the great imperial stouts and reveals balsamic, pastry (burnt caramel), fruity (dried fig, date, redcurrant, strawberry) and mineral (charcoal) notes. Allowed to breathe, it develops powdery (cocoa) and savoury (pancetta) registers.

Finish: Warm, and clear. Characterised by an astonishingly fresh peat, the finish then moves into earthy and tarry spaces, with new deference for the Ballechin’s character. Little by little, as on the mid-palate, notes of roasted coffee emerge. Finally, fruity (fig, plum) and mineral (pencil lead) notes enrich the air. The empyreumatic empty glass is like hot tarmac.