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Lost Lantern McCarthy’s Peated Oregon Single Malt 10 Year Review

Can an American single malt rival Scotland's peatiest whiskies? This Oregon smoke bomb delivers Islay-level intensity with Pacific Northwest character.

OVERALL RATING

9
$145
  • Charles Steele is an attorney and whiskey enthusiast with a penchant for the peculiar.
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Tasting Notes

About:

Independent bottler Lost Lantern has unveiled its Fall 2025 Collection, a range of American single and vatted malts designed to appeal to Scotch whisky drinkers. The seven-whiskey collection, named The Scotch Lovers’ Collection, will be available from November 12 and features bottlings from distilleries including McCarthy’s, Warfield, and Triple Eight.

The release follows the official recognition of American single malt as a whiskey category by the US federal government earlier this year.

A media release is quote, “Lost Lantern hand-selected this cask of McCarthy’s American single malt from Clear Creek distillery in Hood River, Oregon. McCarthy’s is the first American single malt, and the first one we fell in love with. Clear Creek has now made this exceptional peated american single malt for over three decades.

We are honored to present the first-ever ten year old McCarthy’s single cask, the oldest whiskey the distillery has ever released. Made from heavily peated malt, it was aged for ten years in a 400-liter fourth-fill Oregon (Garryana) oak cask. It has herbal, inky smoke on the nose, with hints of dried blueberries and black raspberries. The palate is dark and smoky, with notes of leather, balanced oak, and campfire smoke. Very smoky, with tremendous depth.”

Vital Stats:
Proof: 118.6
Age: 10 years
Quantity produced: 250 bottles
Format: 750mL
Details: Cask strength; Non-chill filtered; no color added
Mashbill — 100% peated malted barley
Maturation Barrel Info — fourth-fill Oregon oak cask
Barrel Size — 53 gallon
Length of Primary Maturation — 10 years
Appearance:
Auburn – Medium well-paced legs
Nose:
This raises out of the glass and hits you square in the nose. It is a smoke bomb, zero mistake or confusion about what this whiskey is all about. This reminds me of sitting in the woods with a light rain here in the Pacific Northwest, fire going while your puffing on a nice pipe.
Palate:
Cedar wood, moss, smoked salmon and a whole lot of terrific peat smoke. It’s thick and impenetrable.
Finish:
Oily mouthfeel with long smokey pulls on the tongue. It warms the chest briefly but you’re left with a dark cigar aftertaste. Some chocolate is somewhere in there, maybe oak barrel, but the peat and rich wet earth are right there.
Comments:
Come hungry for smoke and make no mistake this is gonna hit! If you like peat smoke but want a very Northwest (United States) feel, this is a great one. It is not for everyone, it feels right at home with Monsters of Smoke from Ardbeg, or Joe Offerman’s character Ron Swanson’s love for Lagavulin. It’s right and you’ll taste it in the morning if you have a proper glass.

I really enjoyed this and I do not like smokey whiskey (usually). It’s crisp, clean, and deep. Certainly a fun one to pull of the shelf for your strict Islay fans and see if they can identify where it’s from. There are plenty of clues but you’ll need to be dialed in.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

Charles Steele

Charles Steele, a Portland-based attorney, is a native of the Pacific Northwest. His legal background provides him with an analytical approach to understanding whiskey and other aged spirits. Primarily a legal writer, freelancing for The Whiskey Wash offers Charles a unique opportunity to showcase his versatility as a writer. Although his preference lies with whiskey and whiskey-based cocktails, he has a profound appreciation for all unique and unconventional liquors, from Malört to Ojen - if it's peculiar, he's intrigued.

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