It's time for a wonderful whisky tasting flight from the fine lads at Bruichladdich, on the island of Islay. I'm enjoying the Wee Laddie Tasting Collection from these guys, which contains 3 200ml (8oz) samples of their core offerings: Classic Laddie, Islay Barley, and Port Charlotte Scottish Barley Heavily Peated. To run the entire gamut I've also opened a bottle of Octomore 7.1, in a valiant effort to go from unpeated all the way to the most heavily peated whisky in the world. Onto the Port Charlotte Scottish Barley Heavily Peated. As the name implies, this one is peated to a level of 40ppm. It's non-chill filtered and (again) comes in at a rounded 100 proof. It's a straw yellow in the tasting glass and really sticks to the walls of the glass instead of getting all leggy. On the nose, there's a nice salty peat presence that overshadows most everything. There's a significant charred barrel presence here and even a hint of lemon if you really get down in it. But that peat, oh baby! To say that my heart resides on Islay isn't just a cheesy line, it becomes more and more true with every peated whisky I drink. On the tongue, there's a balance of peat and briny sea salt that evolves into a burnt and smoky campsite fire. The zesty lemon peel helps keep things from feeling heavy as the finish rolls through with more earthy peat and toasted oak. It's very smooth and mouth watering. More more more. Overall, this is a brilliantly balanced whisky that isn't overwhelmed by high phenolic levels of peat and that makes it work so damn well. The true definition of an Islay whisky. Cheers