Tasting note

Nose: magnificent array of salt and bitty peat; heavy yet light enough for the most delicate of citrus. Hard to find a nose which screams 'Islay' at you with such a lack of ambiguity: it is, frankly, perfect. Taste: the delivery is constructed around a fabulous bourbon Demerara sugar and liquorice framework; the peat enters as soon as this is in place and in varying layers of oiliness and depth. The mid ground sees the re-ermergence of the more complex Ardbeg and Port Ellen factions, a bourbon style, small grains busyness. Finish: long, accompanied by soft Demerara. Score - 96. (Jim Murray, Whisky Bible, 2013)

Nose: Opens fresh, salty and clean, developing to malted barley dried over peat, with a damp earthy character. Palate: Ashes, sweet tar, bandages, beaches and smokey chimneys. Finish: Long and lingering, it replicates the palate with salty licorice, smoke and bonfire ashes.