ABV: 58.4 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is peat and fruits. At first there’s a mix of leathery peat and red berries. Soon an ashy overtone arrives as well as a very complex and funky note in the center. It’s almost an aged cheese note. Underneath lies a sweet vanilla oakiness and on top there’a a medicinal iodine note. The fruitiness ripens over time and the whole turns darker with time in the glass and everything seem to switch places. Even though it’s powerful in every way it does a good job of balancing the flavours. This is a fantastic nose with a lot to offer to the explorer.

Mouth: It starts out with a quick burst of red fresh berries and a touch of honey before the peatiness kicks in. On top it’s an ashy peat and in the center there’s the funky cheese note mixed with leather and raisins. In the back it feels savory and slightly bitter. It’s not as sweet as on the nose and the oakiness is not as prominent. The spicyness is there but it’s a nice and complementary chili kick which never interrupts the other flavours. The whole is rich, extremely flavourful and still manages to be balanced.

Finish: The chili spicyness keeps on increasing in intensity and it happens slowly. A cloud of ashy peat floats by before the complex center once again takes over. It seems like there’s a thousand small little flavour nuggets passing by (fresh apples, dust, coastal notes etc) before it settles with oak, leather and an ever increasing chilibase. It’s still got complexity a long way down the late finish with most of the senses working overtime. As a nice bonus, the oak delivers a nice and nutty end to an eventful journey. This is an amazing whisky which transcends the written word.

Additional information
This is a limited release of 36 000 bottles. It has a healthy 167 ppm and is aged for 8 years. The first 6 years 3 different cask type were used: French Mourvedre, french Sauternes and Austrian sweet wines. The last 2 years it rested in Italian Amarone casks.