It’s been a while since I’ve had the time to do one of these and decided to pick a big bold whisky to get back into the swing. A yearly cask strength offering from the south coast of Islay is what I find in my Glencairn this evening, lets dive in. Nose: At first it’s peat along with a scent that reminds me a bit of a swamp or backwater inlet, we’ll call it brackish funk. Next come softer scents of vanilla and juicy fruits like pineapple. Palate: The palate is the opposite of the nose. First comes the fruit and vanilla. Next a distinct briny flavor. Right before swallowing comes the smoke and peat. The cask strength certainly helps the flavors come across as full but I don’t think I would label them as particularly intense. Finish: The finish starts spicy and peaty before fading into vanilla. The high proof keeps the finish going for quite some time. It’s a well balanced quality dram. It certainly has the peat you would expect but the fullness of the fruity flavors help to keep it balanced. At the time of this review the bottle is almost halfway gone but when I happened upon some notes from the first dram out of the bottle I noticed it was almost exactly the same. This suggests that oxidation doesn’t have much of an affect on the flavor of the whisky. I also added water as I went which made the fruity notes more prominent. It’s plenty balanced without the additional water so I didn’t find it necessary. The quality here is unquestioned and although expensive I’m glad I grabbed it, but I don’t think I loved it enough to try and find another one. Sláinte!