Nose: Phenol, smoke, brine, and citrus oils. Smoked bacon. Seaweed, green bell peppers, green onions. Reasonable proof here helps this perfume the area around you. Wintergreen, mint, etc. Basil and thyme. Soft vanilla cookies with just a little icing are under the surface. Fresh cut grass in spring. Lightly toasted cereal grains. Subtle European-style chocolate (ie the type without butyric acid). Wonderfully balanced. Palate: Smoke, phenol, lemon oil, mint. Toasted cereal grains much more prominent. Sugar cookies with lemon icing. Cream and cheese - there's a hint of funky bleu cheese buried way deep in there. Pepper. Pickled vegetables. Smoked paprika, toasted black peppercorns. Cask influence is coming across as vanilla and brown sugar sweetness - had to double check and was right that this is mostly first fill bourbon cask. Wine cask influence is also present, though certainly not as forward as the bourbon. The phenol and smoke are certainly up-front, though they don't dominate the experience. Lots of middle palate, with a moderate amount of lower. The upper palate is struggling to break through, though there are flashes there. Moderate mouthfeel with plenty of oil content. Finish: Smoke, ash, and phenol a la Chloraseptic. Mint, sugar, and that slight lactic tang both are present. Gears shift a little as the wine cask shows up and plays with toasted honeyed cereal grains, nuts, and vanilla. Things slowly coast out on a splash of white and black pepper, cocoa, and banana, with a little tannin that keeps things interesting. Medium length finish. Other notes: I had been searching for a bottle of peated Bruichladdich for a long time and finally found this. Absolutely lives up to my expectations. If you want a comparison to the big three of Islay, if you were to make a continuum and put Laphroaig 10 on one side and Ardbeg 10 on the other, this is at around 70% toward Ardbeg. It still has its own identity, mind, and I would say that the concept of the big three should really be the Big Four - this stuff absolutely stands on its own and reaffirms my desire to get a few different expressions of Octomore. Maybe not a permanent resident in the liquor cabinet, but damn close.