Smokehead Sherry Bomb

Nose: rich, smoked meat, ham, bacon, charcoal, hints of strawberry, raspberry, cream, but mostly smoke. Body: dry, spicy, but not quite as thick as you’d imagine. Warming. Palate: fungal smoke and peat, slightly woody, mixes with the sherry—raspberry, fruit, rich. A nice blend of electric peat and sherry, mostly well balanced if tending slightly more to the smoke. Charcoal, ham, smoky bacon. Haddock? Slightly tangy. Finish: lingering, smoke and oak, moat-coating, sticky

My first smokehead ever was a very good offering, been exactly whay they say they are, a peaty sherry dram. Actually it was super spicy but the nose was amazing. This comes from an independent bottler and the spirit is drawn from an islay distillery (rumor has it that is lagavulin or caol ila, but it felt laphroaig-ish). Bottled at 48%abv, beautiful deep copper color. The bottle is actually beautiful with a red skeleton head in a black decanter. On the nose, almost perfect score. Peat. Nerf toys. Soap. Red fruits. Maraschino sherry syrup. Cherry caramel. Fresh can of Tennis balls. Clove spiciness. Cherry juice that has thickened. It felt like a laphroaig spirit. On the palate it is way too spicy and not that pleasant. Super spicy. Sulphuric. Cotton socks (yeah that's right). So Salty that burns. Peat. Burns like hell. Aftertaste, Tennis balls, Herbal. Dry like condensation happened from smoke. Oloroso sherry profile somewhere. Overall this is a very unbalanced dram. Great nose, not so great palate (without been off putting) and a mild aftertaste. 82 over 100.

The smell is meaty, with tons of barbecue sauce, coupled with the sherried soul of sultanas, toasted hazelnuts, cinnamon and marzipan. Tough, but balanced. The wood is felt on the tongue, while the palate is enveloped by the oily fumes of barbecue and embers, without missing the sweetest component of cinnamon and toasted dried fruit, a touch of licorice and, on the length, a clear marine component, with the salinity that balances the marriage of peat and sherry. Definitely and proudly Islay, does it really matter from which distillery? The finish is of salt (a lot), barbecue sauce and light astringency.

Disappointing. Nose - Sherry and peat are extremely well blended giving off both the acidic nature of sherry and the more earthy notes of peat all at once. This is followed with light sugary sweetness which is so common and classic in an islay scotch. Taste - The problems start when you taste it. This is YOUNG whisky but it spent enough time with the sherry cask to get some astringent notes. I'm even getting some of that young whisky bananas. I don't want to be too tough on this, it's got a nice peat profile. it's not a sherry bomb so false advertised but still there's a good bit of sherry. It's just too young. 1 star....maybe 1.25. I'm not sure when, why or how I'll end up finishing this bottle.