I loved The Dark; otherwise I would not be writing this, because this cost a pretty penny. I was given The Dark in a tasting by a liquor rep that I know, so I knew what I was getting into when I bought it. And I was referred to this one by my positive experience with its sister bottle. Let’s see if I the other side of coin measures up. Nose: Peat and sulfur. Caramel, saltwater taffy, and vanilla. Floral notes. Apple, pear, and grape. Almond macadamia, and walnut. Light black bean, red pepper chili. Clove, nutmeg, white pepper, cinnamon, and oak. Palate: Salwater taffy and caramel. Pineapple, coconut, gala apple, pear, and apricot. Peanut/almond butter. Marshmallow, vanilla, toffee, and malt. A bit of custard. Very light peat presence. Clementine and orange. Finish: Plenty of heat. Clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and white pepper. Earthy peat. Some of the apple, pear, pineapple, and apricot as well. Almond, macadamia, and walnut. Oak. What to say about this one? It’s an amazingly clean whisky. Perhaps too clean. The nose was practically non-existent, I had to really concentrate just to pull enough notes have a description. The body and finish were much better and had more character. Not a bad foil to The Dark, but definitely not the better option of the two, either. At $300, expectations were high. So while it may sound like I’m beating this one up, a lot of my disappointment is just a derivative of the high bar—especially when it’s impossible to separate this from its counterpart in my mind. It lives up to its moniker “The Light” and does enough to avoid being dubbed “The Lightweight.” Remarkably refreshing at 52.9%. Well-balanced. 3.5/5.