N: Fragrant, delicate, wonderful, and assertive peat smoke. It's earthy, piney, and fresh balanced against pungent tar and iodine. There's campfire ash, grilled meat, salted and grilled fish, and a hint of seaweed. There's also chocolate, caramel, vanilla, sour fruit, maybe some almond extract. There's maybe just a hint of Band-Aid, but it's counterbalanced by a lemony citrus peel that cuts right through the middle of the Band-Aid - like wrapping a lemon peel around a Band-Aid, however counterintuitive that would be. It keeps going: custard pie, peanut shells, faint hospital cleaning supplies, wet paint, cut hay, mint and/or menthol, sweet cigar smoke, and occasional flashes of petrichor. I'm sure there's even more than that. It's an incredible nose - wide ranging, but never out of bounds. A lot of those scents above are distinctly pleasant in small doses - and they elicit strong memories for me - but would be overpowering and deeply unpleasant if allowed to expand and overtake the other, more pleasant scents in the dram. That never happens, which shows exceptional balance, and strikes me as a masterful bit of whisky-making. P: Sweet vanilla, caramel, and toffee - all of it salted and smoked. Red fruit soaking in ocean water. Dirt and pine needles. Thick, oily, and heavy mouthfeel, as expected. There's an unusual hoppy bitterness at mid-palate - it's not wood, it's more fruity and herbal, like hops (or tea) can be. Finish merges into that bitterness with bitter dark chocolate, cinnamon heat, some sour fruit, and finally a long lingering salty, peat smoke. The cinnamon builds and approaches capsaicin heat, which then mingles with and adds to the never-ending smoke. The end effect reminds me of a spicy, smoky barbecue sauce, but way more complex. It's pretty great. There's different types of peat smoke in the world. Where something like Ardbeg smoke breaks down the door, punches you the face, and steals your wallet, this Lagavulin instead calls ahead, chats you up, convinces you to let it spend the night, and then leaves in the morning with all your jewelry. It probably drives a Jaguar. And you still want to let that old rascal in again next time. This is a classic and one that's worth keeping around.