Rating: 16/23 Before getting into this, I just have to state that this looks a LOT like Nikka From The Barrel. If it weren't for this having a cheap plastic cap, I would have no doubt looking at them that the Nikka was the knock-off and this was the product being mimicked. N: Young, fruity, smoky, somewhat malty. This is more of a campfire smoke than a peat smoke. The fruits are in the apple range. There's a bit of spices in the cinnamon spectrum coming out of the malt. I also get minerals and a faint faint whiff of confectioner's sugar. P: Decently punchy. There's some heat from the alcohol, but it isn't harsh. I get some sweetness laying on top of minerals and clean water, alongside some mellow maltiness, apples, spices (cinnamon, ginger, pepper, a hint of clove), campfire smoke, and a little peat. The wood is there with some vanilla for sure. It tastes like there might have been some fairly fresh casks involved here, but not for the full 10 years. I get that from the strong apple and vanilla flavors. I guess that must be the mizunara finish. There's a lot going on here, but the balance is a bit off and it tastes youthful. I definitely believe that this is only 10 years old. F: On the sweet side. There are apples and smoke and faint spices and wood. - Conclusion - This comes across as more complex than Nikka From The Barrel, but also as more brash. It's a trade-off to be sure. I found the two of them to be decently competitive, but I can't help but feel that this is the inferior whisky. Amrut Peated has better flavors to it than this, but it's also less complex. Between the two though, I'd probably take the Amrut. It's close though. This is interesting and I like it, but it certainly has problems. The prominent mizunara finish flavor here is odd. It strikes me as both a luxury and a sign of youth. Pure Scot Virgin Oak has a stronger oak finish to its profile. That could be because French Oak is stronger, but I'm not sure. This is more complex, but also more disjointed. I also found Laphroaig Quarter cask to taste more mature and I generally liked it better. This is quite enjoyable, but it needs some more maturity. I like Nikka From The Barrel and Laphroaig Quarter Cask Better. It's not a big difference in quality, but it is one. I gave them both a 17, so this is going to be a 16. I also find that Johnnie Walker Green Label (17) is more refined and ... just better than this. Actually, this could be a 15. I'm leaning toward a 16 though. This tastes a lot younger than I'd expected. I probably would have put it at more like 8 years. Going cross-category a bit, this is more complex but less balanced than Westland Peated. I appreciate the extra complexity here though, so I think I'll give this the win. I actually do taste the alcohol in this, and that isn't just an artifact of the proof. I'm actually seriously considering going down to a 15. Wow. So this is clearly not a 17 now. I would really like to try The Shin 15 to see if it cleans up some of those youthful aspects while maintaining the complexity, but I don't want to pay that kind of money when I've already been kind of disappointed by this. I spent enough time thinking that this might be a 17 that I'll land on a 16 for now. I still have a lot in this bottle though and I can definitely imagine going down to a 15, unfortunately.