Big Peat Christmas (2020 Release)

Erg peaty

This 10th edition of the annual festive bottling, depicts Big Peat sporting a Santa Claus hat reflected in a bauble nestled deep within the Christmas tree. As is tradition for the Christmas Edition, “he” is bottled at a winter-warming Cask Strength of 53.1% and happily offered without colouring or chill-filtration. Big Peat is a marriage of 100% Single Malts from Islay distilleries - Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Bowmore and Port Ellen. It is anyone's guess as to how much Port Ellen and Ardbeg are in there. To me it mostly feels like Caol Ila. Anyhow, let's dive in ... On the nose ... even from a distance you can smell the peat and smoke ... up close you get vibrant, minty notes with wet, rocky seashore air. Couple of more sniffs make you feel like walking in a horse farm with a burning campfire at a distance. There is some underlying sweetness ... muted ... but there along with some citrus fruit or lemon notes. Quite an interesting nose, I must say. The arrival on the palate is rather thin ... sweet but not overly so ... a bit prickly, brine with lemony vibrance ... and a lot of peat and smoke. Feels like quite a young whisky ... the palate development is very little ... mid palate and back palate are overtaken by the ashy smoke and peat. Few drops of water bring out a bit more fruit ... plum and apricots ... and help round the pepperi sharpness. The finish is fairly long ... dominated by the ash and smoke ... slight undertones of sweet fruit and lemon notes ... lips continue to tingle long after the dram is gone ... Initial impression was good, but I was hoping for more ... big meaty flavors for the 10th anniversary Christmas Edition. Perhaps it will get better with some air time.