Lagavulin Distillers Edition double matured distilled 1993 bottled 2009

Peat smoke, wood and sweet sherry dominate this, and secondary strong flavors are earthy, salty or briny, slightly bitter, and savory -- a very complex expression. It is quite smooth but I feel like it could be smoother for its age, 16 years, having been bottled in 2009 and distilled in 1993. Still, it's one of the best whiskeys I have ever tasted -- the best being Bowmore 15 year Darkest Islay (now simply called Bowmore 15 Year), which I consider a fantastic value at $100 per 750 ml bottle in Michigan. One caveat: this bottle is now 2/3 empty, which I'm sure affects the flavors but I couldn't tell you in which ways. Rich sherry and mellow wood flavors are mainly what rockets this whiskey almost into the amazing, super-delicious, stratosphere category for me -- a rare treat. The peat, smoke and complexities I can't even put into words add fascination and uniqueness to a whiskey I could never afford without it being gifted to me, probably purchased before its current online asking price, $525-712 USD. It starts in the nose with peat reek joining the sweetness of sherry from the Pedro Ximenez casking--though I'm not sure what double matured means. I suspect it's a marketing term va. adding flavor. A complex, olden-seeming woody (almost finished wood furniture) aroma permeates the nose too. (Some of the Macallan Editions 1-4 have similarly woody, finished furniture characteristics.) On the tongue, sweet sherry (and a little mint, orange peel perhaps?) hit first. Suddenly a rush of peat reek exhausts into the nose and throat, rising and expanding as from a cozy wood-burning fireplace. A slight burn on the middle of the tongue and mid-palate is the only downside to this fabulously balanced Islay expression. The finish is unexpectedly bitter, yet also sweet and woody, medium-long (without knowing how long average whiskey finishes are), resolving to a lingering smokey, peppery bite at the end. If I could afford it, I'd buy several bottles and probably go through them within 2 to 5 years when hankering for an excellent, verging on great peated, sherry-casked Islay whiskey! FYI, most other flavors I tagged were mere hints, likely because my palate is coarse and diminishing with age. That doesn't diminish my enjoyment of an excellent whiskey though! I just wish I could taste more complexity and details, if the latter is the right word.