To say I'm excited about this is such an understatement. I have been looking for this (albeit not with great effort) for a good while, and it's been right around the corner from me this whole time. First thing I'll say is this wins the grand prize for both best and worst packaging. The bottle and attention to detail are both superb, but the gray on black on slate on silver color scheme was an extremely poor choice, considering I can read no more than 50% of the text on any given surface. Still though, I am in desperate need of a scotch that can finally kick my ass with peat, so here's hoping this is that one. I wasn't really sure what to expect with the color, given the array of different barrels used here. From what I expect of scotches that use bourbon barrels, this looks slightly darker than what only 10 years would bring. Oh yes, the peat dominates the scent, although is not overpowering. There's clearly character from the barrel here on the nose as well, but the peat reminder prevails. Given that this is 100 proof, it surprisingly does not burn the nose. The initial flavor is oak, and characteristics of the different barrels used. I get some vanilla, raisin, salt, caramel, and seawater, in that descending order. There are few scotches that are 100 proof or higher, so the burn starts sooner rather than later on this one, as evident by the burrowing into the gums. Peat then takes over (to nobody's surprise) and fills the mouth with the potent moss, but again, it's not overpowering. The finish remains rather hot; the flavor at this point is peat, but it burns like a rye whiskey. This is absolutely an incredible scotch. For an Islay, though, it's not quite what I expect of the region. I think that the different barrel types used took away from the super peat bomb that the distillers were going for. This was not in vain, however, as this has the body of a high caliber blended scotch, but the extra kick of peat to really remind you where Scotland's roots are. There's no question that this is exactly what every bar should have to represent Islay, especially at it's much lower price point than other well-known Islay offerings.