ABV: 43 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: The fruity and sweet notes from the sherry is well balanced with a very refined yet thick vegetable peat smoke. There’s an array of dark fruits with ripe plums and raisins up front combined with vanilla. The smoke is ashy with a touch of rubber, tobacco and leather. There’s also notes of seashore, salt and a whiff of smoked salmon coming through.

Mouth: Fresh red berries, raspberries and strawberries, is first in line in this crowded space. A speck of dust is detected just before the big burst of peat smoke takes over with ash, tobacco and leather. There’s vanilla, chili fruits, rubber and salt and an astringent oakiness. It’s a complex and very very interresting mouthful.

Finish: Sweet chili fruits mixed with both ripe and fresh red fruits. They stand up very well to the thick, ashy leather and tobacco smoke. The oak comes off as very astringent and somewhere in the middle there’s a hint of hazelnuts, but the peaty and ashy flavours cover the mouth. The sweetness from the sherry, vanilla and the complexity follows through all the way to the end.

Additional information
This is a part of Diageo’s ”The classic malts of Scotland” series. It’s aged in american ex-bourbon barrels and finished in european ex-sherry casks. The peat level sits around 40 ppm.