Shh...ecret Islay 21 Year Old 1999 The Whisky Jury

'A 21-year-old peater', as The Whisky Jury describes it, but he keeps the distillery where this good dram comes from a secret. The only hint is in the barrel number: #Twj-L-1999. The L refers to one of the two distilleries which name begins with this letter. You have a 50% chance. And again a lovely bit of tongue-in-cheek humor on the label, because this one is called 'Shh... ecret Islay'. I love that. Very pale, though.

Herbal, ashy, dirty, maritime, round and creamy on notes of banana, vanilla and white chocolate right in front of sea salt, wet earth and moss. Lightly medicinal and heavily inviting.

Surprisingly soft on the tongue despite the sturdy ABV. Perfect continuation of the nose, with the emphasis on creamy banana and sweet and sour peat. Again, quite a bit of vanilla. Very sweet, though. Beautiful smoke that turns your mouth completely warm. I imagine myself by a bonfire on the beach and breathe a sigh of pleasure.

The medium-long finish is sweet, spicy and smoky.

Laphroaig or Lagavulin? Who knows? I tend towards the former, but what do I know? Coincidentally, I was listening to the soundtrack of Lux Aeterna for the 2001 drama Requiem for a Dream when I tasted this dram. A perfect match!