It's surprising how light the color is for something that has such an obviously strong peat and smoke presence. This is highly reminiscent of Ardbeg. The nose is tremendously complex and balanced without punching you in the face. It's strong, but under control. Ardbeg mixed with some meaty Lagavulin. Such a delicious smell. The peaty is rich there but so is the warmth from the alcohol. This is rich and full of cereal, but it is also sweet, balanced, slightly fruity, and a little herbal. A bigger swig brings out a lot more of the herbal flavor, making it taste more medicinal like Laphroaig 10. In that regard, I guess it has hit Islay bingo. That said, Ardbeg and Lagavulin combined could craft a hybrid that is better than either, Laphroaig is a bit unwelcome here, aside from its grain flavor. A little water makes it taste much more like Laphroaig 10. In fact, it becomes hard to distinguish, unfortunately. The bitterness of Band-Aids comes out and the flavors balance each other less. It becomes a much more aggressive drink. As much as I am disappointed by the Laphroaig flavor, judging this just based on the best flavor that it can produce with its ABV (in this case, like many, that's the cask strength), it's very good. Unfortunately, the watered flavor does not taste good enough to warrant the price and the unwatered flavor is quite good but is not good enough to warrant the price either. Watering it down further, some more sweetness comes out. While that is a nice reversal, the flavors then become uncomplementary. The whole thing tastes appropriately strong, but it also tastes like there is a lot of mismatched inspiration here. Some fruitiness comes forward and the whole thing is still very rich, but it isn't as delightfully flavored as it should be. It's only the slightest bit better than Laphroaig 10.