The nose is yeasty bread dough, lemon squeeze, burnt tennis ball, vanilla cream, briny peat bog. The palate is big on vanilla. Iodine candy. Saltwater. Lemon pound cake. Some spice, cinnamon, clove? Spearmint. Salty smoke and vanilla with a spritz of lemon carry into the finish. The empty glass smells like mesquite smoked brisket drizzled in brown sugar barbecue sauce. Despite 60+% I haven’t yet tried this with water, as it doesn’t appear to need it. Will update if it changes significantly with water. This is a big bruiser of a whisky - it’s rich, pungent, and glorious. I had another batch several years ago, but don’t recall being blown away. I suspect my young whisky palate wasn’t quite prepared for the onslaught of peaty deliciousness of this whisky. I don’t think it’s quite on the level as the 2021 Cairdeas PX, and I might place Ardbeg Corryvreckan (2016 bottling) slightly ahead of this, but I think this deserves every bit of four and a quarter stars.