Scarabus 10 Year

Nose is honeysuckle on the vine, with a background of salt spray and a vanilla chaser. A drop of water and 10 minutes adds cooked pancetta to the aroma, and a swirl of the glass can elicit a nice burned oak smell. Interesting and pleasing, but not overly complex, and a nice segue to the palate. Opens a bit richer than you'd expect from the nose, with a nice fullness and a rich, borderline-oily, texture. Lemongrass, fresh cut hay, and salted vanilla creme lead to a smoky middle where the peat and the barrel char and the sea salt take you to a clean, crisp close with just a touch of smoke lingering. Very nicely balanced, and interesting enough to keep you coming back but not so deep that it requires a lot of contemplation. In short, this is a perfect dram for any occasion. Sure it's from an "undisclosed distillery", but we all know where this came from. If you'd love to have a slightly lighter version of Caol Ila 12, without the artificial scarcity and random pricing, this is the bottle to grab. It's also nice that Total Wine seems to keep it in stock at a very reasonable $55.

A rich, Single Malt Scotch by Hunter Laing's in Islay, Scottland aged for 10 years in American oak before being bottled at 40% ABV. It has an aromatic birth with notes of grains, wood, fruit, flowers, herbs & spices; while a rich life adds notes of toasted brioche with honey, green olives, lime, stewed rhubarb & vanilla; that led to a smoky death at sea of medium length adding notes of peat smoke, oak, pepper, leather & sea spray.

Pete, so much peat! Balanced backend. Not too abrasive.

Nose: peated/smokey not too sweet Taste: quite short, peated but not a heavy taste. Sweeter at the end

Nose: fisherman’s harbor, salt water, sardines, smoke with hints of leather. Palate: sweet vanilla, and a slow rumble of peaty smoke and crushed peppercorns interwoven with menthol Finish: sweet peat and some mint freshness