That peat is really present on the nose. There is also plenty of fruit though. Tasting it, the peat and cherry come through immediately, but so does a surprising mesquite smoke and spice flavor. I appreciate the sweetness and also how it balances with the peat. That's often difficult to pull off, but since the flavors isn't aggressively bitter and tart, it works well here. It's surprisingly smooth for 50% ABV. The richness and balance are nice, but a bit more richness would be nice. This kind of reminds me of Westland Peated, but it seems a bit less complex and plain delicious. The Amrut Portonova may have that weird cardboard flavor that this doesn't, but it also has a lot of richness and some additional complexity. This kind of tastes like Peated cherry Pepsi, which I must admit is better than regular cherry Pepsi because eit avoids that grossly bitter finish, but it also has some mineral and mild salty flavors that strive to be Scotch but don't quite make it. This is absolutely a sipper that I would be happy to drink on most occasions, but it also needs to have more complexity and richness. Sweet, fruit, rich, peat, smoke. It's like cherry Pepsi whiskey. It's very good, but also quite odd. It's hedonistic in a pretty dumb way, but I'd be happy to drink this. The balance is shockingly successful. Everything that this tries, it succeeds at. It's odd, but it is also delightful. Amrut Portonova is generally better, but this wins over it because of that weird wet cardboard flavor in the Portonova.