Why does the Shure SM7B ruin the nuance of a 2018 Lagavulin 16 when doing whiskey review podcasts?

I keep hearing the same gospel: SM7B + Cloudlifter = holy grail for whiskey podcasts. But every time I tried it on my Lagavulin 16 tasting episode, the low‑end turned into a barrel‑rumble that masked the subtle peat notes.

• Used a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, 48V phantom off (obviously), and a Cloudlifter CL‑1.
• Recorded at 44.1kHz/24‑bit, gain set to 55 dB.
• Pop‑filter was the cheap foam one from Amazon, not the metal mesh.

Result? The mic’s proximity effect turned the amber colour into a muddy brown. Meanwhile, my old Audio‑Technica AT2020 (the one I used back in 2015 for the “Midnight Glenfiddich 12” batch) captured the vanilla and smoke without the extra bass sludge.

Is the SM7B really over‑hyped for this niche, or am I just doing something wrong? Anyone else notice the same when the whiskey is a high‑torque, high‑phenol spirit? Throw your experience (or your cheap‑mic love‑letter) in the comments.

??