*apologies ahead of time, my "reviews" here are generally free form notes as I drink vs a formal review, but this one went extreme in a lack of structure" Been eyeing this for way too long. About 100 bucks in the UK, coming in at an insane 49.4% which is nearing CS from Balvenie. Nose - I'll just start by saying at first it's really lacking. A good 15 minutes in the glass and oily glue was kinda what I got. A bit of an earthy, clearly peated, element was there as well. It's a much more earthy peat than say an islay, but clearly this is a heavy peat. A few slight swirls followed by a full coaching tart fruits, aggressive alcohol, good very hard to place and generic smoke (think caol lila), and a good vanilla kick. So far it's ever changing and rather interesting. I would say, not super inviting. More time and I am getting a distinct honey note which is moving this up. Taste - Just a flavor bomb here. That higher abv really is showing itself with intensity of flavor. The overall malt is a bit sour which is off profile for balvenie. Giving way to lighter fruits. The show however is the smoke and this very clean muddy peat note. Your mouth is just left with alcoholic clean peat smoke. I really want to compare this to a standard 14 year, all I have open is a 2003 and that's just too good to be a fair comp. But for science, we must compare what we got. The 2003 is pretty similar but distinctly different. More minerality. Sweeter up front but more bitter on the finish. Smoke is more "obvious" in that it's perhaps more a wood smoke. The balvenie sweetness is turned up. The 17 year has the longer finish. The smoke notes really peak on the finish while the smoke is midpalate on the 14. The finish on the 17 is 10x longer, we're not even talking in the same league here. But by contrast the arrival is softer, lighter, more closed and simple. The 17 is a roller coaster climbing up the hill for a insane fast down hill. The 14 is balanced with it getting pretty intense quickly and just hanging on and lingering. Given the price point is about the same for the 14 as the 17 US vs UK. They're really worth picking up both as you're not spending wildly more for the older expression at all. I'd guess US it would be 100 vs 150, but who knows with US pricing these days. Final thoughts. Maybe I'm maturing with time or maybe the greek yogurt I had an hour ago is causing me issues. Either way I think my love of these whiskies are fallen a bit. What used to be this perfectly sweet and balanced whisky is not a bit sharp, a bit acidic, and frankly a touch bitter. It's still a lovely whisky don't get me wrong at all. But I'm finding myself ever evolving and oddly I'm finding I'm becoming a bigger fan of bourbon and more traditional younger peated expressions. Anyway it seems the niche that this and the Macallan Classic Cut once were outstanding whiskies. Now the Classic Cut is almost undrinkable and this is just a very nice change of pace, but not something with staying power. 3.5 and I'd adjust my prior scores down a quarter each based on this. This is an outstanding value buy and I may very well argue it's the best value I've had in 2023... You know what? I forgot water! OK with water - I'm getting a lemon lime and smoke that dead on is the fruits of laphroig and the peat of springbank! That's a hell of a note! no need to adjust my prior statement on score, but for sure water is a nice change. It did dry out the oils and makes it a bit sharper on the tongue. Not unpleasant just different. Anyway - this is a buy all day if you can get it under 130 from the UK. So make this this next "buddy bottle" and you'll be thrilled. I wouldn't put in an order just for this. All and all, a great expression from this distillery, but this has sold me on not spending the premium on the 19 year expression. Age isn't taking this in the direction I'd hope. Final note - I used paypal to buy this so the exchange rate was pretty bad. 119 and change was the final all in cost. 100% a happy buy.