2020 24 Days of Whisk(e)y - Day 9

Day 9! Big Peat Small Batch Islay Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, 46% ABV, from Douglas Laing & Co. This is a blend of single malts from Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Bowmore, and Port Ellen. I picked this up on clearance and have been holding off trying it until ... today!

On the nose there is a lot going on, I find coastal brine, phenols, citrus, toffee, smoke and some floral in the background. I keep going back and finding more. The taste has salt, spice, smoke and citrus zest - with the smoke and peat hanging around. The finish is dry, smoke and peat that lingers. With water, I find more smoke and ash on the nose. It seems to smooth things on taste, but I find a bit more ash, I prefer it neat.

This reminds me of Ardbeg 10 - enough that I had to get out the Ardbeg and A/B compare. The Big Peat does have more smoke and oomph. This is good, not great. If I stumble upon another bottle at a reasonable price I would likely buy it, but I won't search it out. Rated 3.5 / 5.0