Rating: 19/23 N: Quite full. Sweet and slightly funky malted barley that makes me think a little bit of Loch Lomond 12 mixes with ashy smoke, roast pork, a bit of vanilla, some herbaceousness that gets a bit tart at times, an occasional touch of lemon zest. It's quite meaty, but in a good way. The scents generally balance pretty well and there's a sense of some maturity here. P: A huge layer of smoke hits,, bringing a bitter ashiness with a little iodine, peat numbingness, and some herbaceous notes (though those tend to get overwhlemed). The sweet barley stands its ground and shows off some of that Loch Lomond 12 funk. There's a little bit of a campfire flavor going on here that borders on barbecue, but mercifully doesn't quite go there. Some orange shows itself at times and there's some apple as well. A touch of iodine. There's probably a lot, actually, but it's hidden behind all of that smoke and peat. Salty. And a bit spicy (black pepper and cinnamon) too. I get some oiliness as well, which nicely helps to build out the body. I get very faint chocolate late on the palate. The balance is nicer than the other Octomores I've been trying side by side, but it's still bold with richnesss and fullness. Ah! On my penultimate sip, I get a hint of tart cherry and blackberry. But maybe my palate is too far gone at this point. F: Numbing peat with plenty of smoke and partially burnt firewood. That malt character adds a sweet dimension, but it fades fairly quickly. - Conclusion - I like the overall profile of Laphroaig 10 (18/23) more than I like this one. The Laphroaig is more balanced with a better sense of maturity, while maintaining substantial complexity. This is balanced for an Octomore, but it's still kind of aggressive and it lacks that degree of complexity. The boldness here is really nice though. This seems like a clear improvement over the other Octomores, but it isn't blowing them out of the water. Ardbeg Uigeadail (19/23) is less packed with a variety of flavors, but it's rich and full with a boldness and deliberate profile that avoids the problems that this has. That said, when I put them side by side, I appreciate how the nuance present in this makes itself more apparent. This is tough because I simultaneously feel like this is on the same level as the Ardbeg - or maybe slightly above it - but I also kind of like the Laphroaig better than this. Curse you, non-transitive preferences! Stepping back and breaking it down though, I think I like the complexity and balance of the Laphroaig, but find its low proof to be problematic. The Ardbeg, on the other hand, is nicely balanced and has a great flavor, but it doesn't have as much going on. This is kind of in the middle. Yes, this has some challenging flavors, but they aren't too prominent. And, frankly, the balance and complexity here are both good. I'm looking in the 18 to 19 range here and I'm thinking that this probably deserves that 19. That said, it's a very low 19 because there's a sense of maturity to the Ardbeg that I don't get from this and this has additional flaws that the Ardbeg doesn't. Thank you @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample of this one!