Big Peat

I have this bottle for several months now. I have tasted it initially and was disappointed, so I elected to let is rest for while after 3-4 drams. The air that fills the gap of the missing dram usually help to open up the whisky. I often find that the first dram of a bottle is not as good as the next dram taken few weeks later.

Let's talk about the whisky. It has opened up and was indeed very good. The Big Peat is a blended malt or vatted malt from Douglas Laing. They blend several Islay Single Malt together from the casks they don't want to bottled as a single malt. There is even some Port Ellen in it apparently. So for people that doesn't know, it is not a blended whisky as there is no grain whisky in it. It is made from single malts only, but they are from different distilleries. It is called a blended malt.

The nose: Peated yes, big ok, but not powerful. I found the nose a bit shy. You can feel the youth of the malts used to make it. There is sniff of new make, but on the other hand, in the background behind the peat, there is mature stuff (Port Ellen ?). Fruits, citrus and exotic fruits. There is a bit of vanilla also.

The mouth: Peated indeed. More powerful than the nose. Tarred peat. It is harder to go behind the peat, but there is still some fruits. It opens up with a few drops of water.

Finale: Long and peaty. It is probably young, but some mature stuff start to show themselves on the finale.

Balance: It is good, very peated but with the name it has, you can't tell that you haven't been warned. I found the nose very shy though.