Ironroot Icarus 2019 ed 52.5% Nose: its a merri-go-round for your senses. Top notes of sweet red fruit (raspberries) and sugar. Gives way to classic bourbon notes of vanilla and brown sugar with a faint whiff of smoke and peat. Eventually the character of the Ironroot corn mash comes charging through. Deep rich red fruits and sweet corn, candied bacon, ceylon tea...and then it all circles back around. Palate: beautiful, sweet, rounded, and wonderfully balanced. The port influence is up front with raisins and mixed nuts. That gorgeous rich corn and oak follows up. There is a very faint undercurrent of smoke and a touch of brininess as it closes out. Finish: tart fruit, drying leather, sugary port sweetness sprinkled with salt. As it spends time in the glass, more of the Islay begins to come through but never in any dominant way. Its gorgeously nuanced and provides a balance to the sweetness of the corn and port. This is the definition of integration and balance in a whiskey.