ABV: 62.9 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is peat and oak. At first there’s a big hit of an ashy, dry woodfire peat with a surrounding layer of rounded vanilla and a thin, ripe, red berry note. It’s a very dry nose with the oakiness really accentuating the peatiness. There are notes of unscented lotion as well. With a bit of imagination some brighter fruits are detectable behind the big woodfire. This is a nice nose but it’s not especially complex or interesting. It’s very dry and very oaky.

Mouth: It starts out with a mix of oak and peat, where the peat now presents itself a lot more interesting with dry soil, seasalt, ash, iodine and fresh burning wood. It’s quite astingent and mineral rich. The oakiness is really pushing itself through to the point where it almost outshines the peat. The whole thing comes through as very rich and has a nice power to it which feels essential to pulling this off. There’s still a thin, surrounding layer of vanilla and ripe fruits.

Finish: There’s a second or two of very dry and astringent oak before the peat and the spicyness take front. It’s now once again more ashy and mineral rich and less medicinal/coastal. In the background lies a complex mess of ripe fruits, malt and peat but it feels a bit irrelevant since the whole feels way too oaky and astringent. The finish is extremely long and the woodfire keeps on burning a long time down the road. This is a very good whisky but the virgin oak mixed with the high PPM level creates a big woodfire which at first is impressive bit soon gets a bit annoying.

Additional information
This whisky was distilled in 2012 with a PPM value of 133. It was aged in a mix of first fill ex-american (25 %), third fill virgin oak (25 %), second fill ex-Riversaltes (20 %), second fill Syrah (20 %) and lastly, spirit aged in second fill ex-bourbon barrels (10 %). It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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