My personal taste for bold whiskies with a lot of personality is behind the choice of this bottling, enhanced with a finish for 20 months in first fill Pedro Ximenez to make it rounder and fruitier… but only up to a certain point. The colour is intense, the influence of the wine is huge, but this peated Highlands malt called “Ruadh Mhor” remains extremely unruly and muscular, turbulent and extreme! At the nose it’s very smoky, almost like a coastal malt, and rich with coffee, leather, damp earth. Very farmy, too, with notes of horse menagerie. The wine only enhances the very organic traits, rather than adding obvious fruitiness. At the palate it matches the olfactory impression: just as earthy and leathery, farmy and very smoky. But there is also a pronounced oakiness, and just a tiny hint of raisiny sweetness that makes the whole fatter and rounder. Very spicy, oaky and dark in the aftertaste too. – Fabio Rossi