I usually treat inaugural releases as a marketing gimmick. Something new and shiny, bottled too soon, and limited release making it silly overpriced. Not to mention severely underwhelming in taste. Even if it’s bottled with a good age statement and taste great, there’s still that over-price factor ( Daftmill inugural comes to mind). Except for now. This is a 5yr old , respectable 50%, 70k bottle release, priced at a very affordable $75. And taste fantastic! Nose: wow, not expecting this…big smack of peat and smoke. Palette: this is where that use of sherry comes out. Initially soot and campfire, but then turns into apples, heather , red berries and cocoa. Think if Ledaig and Balvenie had a child. This is really impressive for a first release. And more so considering its for the mass market at a whopping 70,000 bottle release. They really wanted all to be able to afford it and, more importantly, OPEN it to drink, not to hoard. Till now, my favorite inaugural release ( that I actually opened and had) was Kilchoman, and more recently, Torabhaig. Others were simply too expensive ( Daftmill, Bimber), or simply “meh, it’s fine” ( Aber Falls, Lagg, Drumshambo, Cotswold, Filey Bay, Isle of Harris, Lochlea, Wolfburn, Mc’Nean). This is now my new favorite inaugural release, with the bonus factor of actually being damn good. Buy on sight. Sure, slightly pricey for a 5 yr old ( still not bad, considering Ardbeg Wee Beastie is $65 and not as good), but damn affordable for an inaugural release.