Eighteen months of finish in first fill Oloroso barrels are the perfect recipe for a fireworks display: the peat and smoke of this iconic Islay distillery are not tamed by the wood, and they are actually enhanced and made even more powerful, muscular and explosive! At the nose it’s only very moderately winey: it’s very balsamic, with camphor and medicinal herbs, but also with a wicked sour note like red cherries and a touch of damp earth and leather. At the palate it starts out on liquorice root: chewy, bold, a bit vegetal and tannic. It may seem a tiny bit sweet, but a drop of water will make it very dry and reveal a fruitier side: orange marmalade, again cherries, all on top of exuberant peat smoke and farmy notes. The finale builds on soot and ashes, and it becomes astringent but also even more balsamic, with mint and eucalyptus.