I was lucky get this 2021 release as late in the game as I did. I haven’t been quite as diligent about grabbing these releases as I have been with the Cairdeas line. That’s partly do to sporadic pricing and inferior distribution. Because these tend to be solid when I do get them. The Scorch is aged in heavily-charred bourbon barrels. This should play well with the Ardbeg spirit—I think Ardbeg is the pound-for-pound PPM king of all the Islay distilleries. Nose: All the classics. Peat smoke and sulfur. Campfire smoke and iodine. Ammonia. Bandaid. Brine and sea salt. Heavy on tennis ball—this one is opening up a brand new three-ball tube. Black bean red pepper chili. Lemon and lime citrus. Sugar cookie. Spearmint. Vanilla custard. Hazelnut. Cinnamon and black pepper. Palate: Heavy again on the black bean red pepper chili. Red hot tamales. Vanilla custard. Salted caramel and peanut butter. Butterscotch. Ballpark soft pretzel. Hookah smoke and iodine. The campfire smoke is fairly prominent here as well. Some banana walnut muffin. Cinnamon and black pepper. Finish: Rich dark chocolate. Saltwater taffy. Ballpark pretzel. Sugar cookie and butterscotch. Spearmint. Black bean red pepper chili. Hazelnut. Moderate length. Smoke, brine, iodine, and bandaid. Moderate length. This is a winner. The profile-cask interaction and is excellent. It’s incredibly versatile in terms of notes and spans Islay funk, brine, smoke to orchard fruit and confectionary sweetness. It really is an enjoyable whisky. The concept here is incredibly simple. And though it lacks the age statement, this handily beats the Lagavulin 11 Charred Cask, which is probably the closest comparable you could come up with. At $96, this is about as close to MSRP as I could’ve gotten. Well worth the price of admission if you ask me. I ought not neglect this line going forward. Though it may be the least consistent of Islay’s big 3 limited release lines, there are diamonds the Ardbeg rough like this one that simply cannot be skipped. 4.75/5.