Scarabus Specially Selected Single Malt

Delicious. This is an underrated gem.

Celebrations! My 100th review is definitely a special one: a nice peaty dram called 'Scarabus'... A few months ago I was invited to a local small 'independent bottlers & limited releases' event. I tried following fine drams (you can read their respective reviews elsewhere on this site): - The Maltman (Secret Orkney Distillery) 2005 12 Year Old (Sherry Hogshead) - Hunter Laing's The Old Malt Cask Caol Ila 2009 (9 Year Old) Red Wine Finish - Hepburn's Choice Caol Ila 2009 5 Year Old (Quarter Cask). This was the fourth dram I wanted to try, but since I was by car, I didn't. Back then, I was explained by the host - importer for the Benelux area - that this NAS whisky, while being bottled by Hunter Laing, was acquired from a well known but non-disclosed distillery on Islay, rumored most likely to be Lagavulin or Coal Ila. He knew which one, but couldn't confirm either one - but nodded to my question that is one of those two. Yesterday a friend of mine wanted to share a dram with me and showed this bottle. I was instantly excited to try and tasted this dram. Would it hold up to my expectations? The nose started with moderate peat-smoke, some sea salt and a hint of vanilla, but was also a bit thin. The palate, however, showed more boldness. The smokey peat and vanilla returned, but with some added leathery and oaky notes, and an idea of sweet fruits. The finish added a surprising hint of some caramel to the peat smoke and was quite long and very pleasing. Overall, we found it both to be a very decent dram. The bottle wasn't entirely killed but ended up less than halfway. I also quite like the packaging. While not that expensive, the bottle has some luxury vibes. The gold font, the 'weird' symbols and even the name ('Scarabus' means 'Rocky Place' in old Norse) all certainly add to the mysterious atmosphere of this dram.