This expression has been on my bar for about a year and I've enjoyed many trips to this bottling. The pour is a burnished yellow-gold. Full sheeting on a swirl with a few low tears marking this wisky's path back to the bottom of the glencairn. On the nose this is pure Islay. Iodine and band-aids, new yellow rubber boots and barbeque smoke, brine and succulents, malt and peat, floral and sweet. Helen Keller said that smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles. The nose of this whisky proves her observaton right. My nose has taken my imagination on an adventure in the bowl of this tasting glass. Simply magnificent! The taste is one of roasted meaty, smoky tobacco over a salty, honey-dipped drop of silky... Okay, that's a bit much. Am I being over enthusiastic? I like Islay scotches. By way of an example, I give you Lagavulin 16 and Laphroaig 10. The Lagavulin is a near perfect sip for me while Laphroaig doesn't cut it. The Laphroaig is lacking subtlety, in my opinion. It's brash and made up, like a trashy tart in a cheap bar. The Lagavulin fascinates me, like a mysterious contessa in her best evening garb. But the Ardbeg, well that's the gal I'd most like to bring home. Plenty of complexity balanced with a bouncy nature that just says "drink me". I like this whisky a lot. I ask you to pardon my exuburance, you've read the review thus far so I'll just cut to the chase. This is a 4 star whisky. It's a full bodied Islay of near ideal proportions and, at 108.4 proof and non-chill filtered, this just ticks the boxes for me one after another. I hope I never run out.