ABV: 55.3 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is ashy and fruity. At first there’s an ashy layer sitting on top of a fruity center part mixed with both herbal and coastal peat notes. The fruitiness comes through as mainly ripe grapes and apples. When it starts to settle, vanilla and honey notes add to the center part and a slight dustiness appears in the back together with a floral (almost soapy) note. There’s a nail polish remover note somewhere within as well. This is a very rich and interesting nose with a lot of different roads to explore. It lacks a bit of logic and at times it feels like it’s all over the place.

Mouth: It starts out with a big peat punch with a herbal and wet peatiness growing in the center part while the ashy notes spread with a peppery note in all directions. The peatiness switch character halfway through and becomes very mineral rich. It’s dusty and after a few seconds the ripe grapes appear in the middle of the palate. It’s not especially sweet and it’s a very rough character at this point. There is a liquorice note appearing after a few sips. The floral note is still found in the back but it’s easy to miss behind the big wall of peat.

Finish: The transition is logical without any big spikes or dips. A gentle rise in the pepper spicyness occurs, otherwise the flavours carry over in a nice way. The ashy peat is still floating around on top and it’s still a mineral rich peat in the center with the ripe grapes and an apple or two.. Once the heavy peat settles the floral notes with lavender, coconut and the dustiness start to take over and becomes the main feature until the oakiness start to appear. The oakiness arrives in a nice, slow pace and seem to let the other flavours have their time to shine. It’s a nice old and dusty oakiness with a touch of hazelnuts. This is a great whisky which is really interesting to explore.

Additional information
This is a limited release aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ex-brandy casks. It was distilled in 2004 and bottled 2017. The bottle no. is 718-4152. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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