ABV: 47.4% (94.8 proof) Provenance: Scotland, Islay Mashbill: 100% malted barley Age Statement: 5 years Cask(s) : Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Oloroso Sherry Added Colour: ? Chill Filtered: No On the nose, this scotch is just pure peat smoke. For my money, this would be a winner if there were other things to take out from the nosing, but it is extremely hard to smell past the wall of smoke. There are a few hints however, notably the brininess as well as some sea breeze, but they are very faint and come and go seemingly randomly. The mouth is in many ways a continuation of the nose, but this time tangible things show up. Of course, the peatiness is the star of the show once again, but the few other faint notes that appeared on the nose materialize themselves into something realer on the palate. If you are someone who knows exactly what they like and don’t really want to think twice about what they drink and just want a smokey whiskey, this might be the one for you. Calling it a peat bomb wouldn’t really do it justice, this is a peat nuke. So much so that the nuclear mushroom has blasted everything in its radius to a pulp, leaving only the overpowering smoke. This one is a bit too unilateral for me, but I still enjoy it from time to time, My enjoyment from whiskey comes from trying to identify subtle notes that hide beneath the main notes. In this case, there’s really only one, and it brutally attacks you any chance it gets. I’d really recommend spending the few extra bucks to get the 10 year. 5 years is extremely young for a whiskey, and I applaud Ardbeg for their transparency of such an AS on the bottle, but the result is a scotch that is just a bit too young, underdeveloped and a bit disappointing.