Strong peat gives it full coffee and tobacco flavors with, but there is a burst of sweetness at the beginning and strong dark chocolate mixed in with hints of nuttiness. Terrific. Fruitier than the lagavulin 16 and a tad bit harsher. This drink has a really interesting and unique character. Its emphasis on smokiness over peatiness whole keeping both on the milder side for an Islay combined with its sweetness and moderate richness without a ton of tartness or bitterness and hints of mineral, brine, orange, and flowers (though most of the floral taste is vanilla) give it a taste that is much like cereal. It is enjoyable, though it does taste somewhat like an inferior version of Lagavulin 16. It really stands on its own though and it tastes good! It isn't harsh, in part because its low 43% ABV sets it apart from other drinks in a class that traditionally packs quite a punch. It comes close to tasting like a mish-mash of nauseating flavors but doesn't quite land there and tastes very good instead. The balance is actually tremendously impressive and relatively little alcohol comes through despite its comparatively mild flavor (though the peat is largely to thank for obscuring it, so this isn't some shocking feat). There is a tad of cinnamon here toward the finish, but it pairs well with the cereal flavors. You really have to like that cereal taste and appreciate mild herbal notes to love this, but its balance should make it drinkable for just about anyone who can handle and Islay Scotch. It's kind of hard to classify this one. I suspect that this drink shows new faces in a variety of situations and that most of them are enjoyable, which is a tremendous frat, especially with the bold variety of flavors present, but will need to drink more of it on other occasions to confirm. Although the flavor is full, it is also comparatively mild, much like how most of the American Single Malts on the market taste due to only having been aged for a couple of years. By some of the standard measures of greatness, this may not take home the gold or even silver or bronze, but this is a surprisingly fun drink that clearly has its place. It would be a great choice for flavoring a dense, bready fruitcake. It would be easier to take this whiskey seriously if it had more of a punch to it, but sometimes some sweet, fun, subtlety is all one needs or wants. The peat is present and punching, but the rich, sweet cereal notes balance it out. There is some smoke too, to be sure, but not a ton. The nose is peaty and medicinal and the flavor has a bit of a medicinal quality too. There's a bit more plain bitterness than I would like and that bitterness tastes a bit like wet cardboard. The flavor is fairly rich, but not like Lagavulin 16. There is definitely complexity, but I'd appreciate somewhat more. It's like a rich, peaty, cereal single malt with not as much complexity as I would like,mixed with a tad of generic sweetness and orange with minerals. Band aids and seaweed do show up, but only in small amounts. There is an herbal, medicinal finish, but calling its flavor the same as that of Band-Aids is a bit of an exaggeration. This drink can't beat out the richness of Lagavulin 16, but it can compete with that of Ardbeg Corryvreckan. The alcohol may be less intense, but the flavor is still assertive and varied. This it drier and more bitter than Westland Peated with a much richer flavor, though that doesn't necessarily make it better. It's really good though. Surprisingly, when compared with a sweet and standard Scotch, this has a rich, cereal flavor that is quite satisfying. That experience pushes Laphroaig 10 up a notch. It could use some improvements, but in certain cases the richness and herbal medicinal flavors give this sort of nostalgic 1800s feel. The niceness of that flavor wears off quickly though, revealing Laphroaig 10's lack of depth. There's a lot going on here, but it is way to discordant. Too many of the flavors don't land. Sweet cereal Band-Aids (that subtle spearmint flavor is what creates the Band-Aids) is just not an appealing flavor, even when mixed with smoke and whatever else. It's interesting and fun from time to time, but this is a drink that needs some improvement. This is the perfect example of how adding complexity to a drink's flavor is not all that is needed to craft a masterpiece. Comparing this with Westland Peated and Westland Peat Week 2017, this is an awkward combination of punchy and lacking in flavor complexity and balance. It's sippable, but it needs some improvements to be enjoyable. The nose is grainy and peaty with a clear cereal element (after drinking Springbank 12). The palate is rich with some herbal funk and a strong cereal grainy flavor that has plenty of sweetness. There are a few things going on on the palate with the clearly present peat that is balanced by rich smoke, umami, minerals, and sweet grains (a bit of floral note without a big alcohol bitterness). In the right circumstances, the flavors do balance in an enjoyable way. In the wrong circumstances, they balance in an unenjoyable way. In the wronger circumstances, they don't balance at all and have jarring flavors. At its best, this is quite good, but it is never excellent. At its worst, it is young, naive, and discordant. It's a decent whiskey, but it needs some refinement. An older version, in particular, could be quite good.