I would venture to say when one thinks of Islay scotch, the Laphroaig 10 year is one of the first ones that come to mind. Even as a relatively young scotch, this one lives up to the hype. On the nose you get brine, smoke and sea. The palate leads with iodine and peat, followed by vanilla. It is just a touch thin but the finish is long with very little burn, some malt and a touch of sweetness. There are very few 10 year old scotches that I would recommend over Laphroaig. Maybe Ardbeg but honestly you cant go wrong with this one and it adds a nice smokey touch to cocktails. If they could just bump up the proof to 90 or so, this would probably score closer to a 5 but either way it's a strong 4.25.