Big Peat. 46%.

[Pete Smoke]

A bottle from 2009.

N: TCP. Iodine. Smokey Peat.
T: Medicinal peat notes, plenty to keep you occupied.
F: More peat. Malty toffee. Finish of good length, with smokey medicinal notes.

If your into peat then your into this. The Port Ellen gives it interest. Not as good as they say, average - could be a little cheaper i suppose.

[Johnny Murgatroyd]

The vatted that contains a bit of Port Ellen - a situation that will probably become more rare as time goes on.
Not sure about the packaging - not the illustration, that's fine - but am I the only one whose cylinder won't shut properly? And whose bottle top sticks to the top lid? Bally 'ell!

Glass:
Glencairn

Water:
Neat

Colour:
Brass

Body:
Light to medium

Nose:
One of the most startling noses I've snorted thus far. Sampled in conjunction with Caol Ila and Kilchoman, it really gives a sense of how varied peat can be. The peat here can be described as a combination of the wood and paper smoke of Caol Ila together with the rubberised burnt bacon of Ardbeg. Snort harder and there is something beneath the peat that is very engaging, sort of like black chocolate, fried chicken, butter, honey, shellfish and overripe banana.

The nose on this dram is substantial and balanced, with a sort of reassuring quality that is very hard to define. It is a true blender's masterpiece. Can't stop the snorting.


Taste:
There's something creamy and comforting about the taste of Big Peat. It's hard to define, again. It's sort of like eating ice cream when it's all half melted; there's a sort of creamy, white chocolatey quality all under the billows of smoke and lovely brine. And the smoke is stunning!

I am not sure how to describe what I'd call the "reassuring" aspect of this whisky. This is like if instead of toasting marshmallows you toasted white chocolate squares. And squished soggy bananas on it. Maybe a better analogy will occur to me.

Finish:
Traces of the overripe banana and cream, but mostly smoke lasting a very long time. Vegetal notes, like rainforest campfires. Chilli chicken. Astringency, hot toast.

This is now in danger of becoming my favourite whisky. Watch out Talisker 10! Relatively cheap too.
There is something oddly appetising about this whisky, a bit like Talisker, and I'm not sure why. This would be a great before dinner drink-and-snort. And now I'm hungry.