Big Peat 25 Years Old ‘The Gold Edition’ (2017)
We’ve seen several age statements already with Douglas Laing’s Remarkable Regional Malts-series. The Timorous Beastie takes the crown, with a 40 year old expression. But not to be outdone, Big Peat surprises us with a 25 year old release. I’m very curious to see how this blended malt worked out. I mean, should be good, right?
Only 3.000 bottles of the Big Peat 25 Years Old ‘The Gold Edition’ are released. It is the first in a trio of age statement Big Peat releases, all of which will be vattings of single malt whisky distilled on Islay.
Big Peat 25 Years Old ‘The Gold Edition’ (52,1%, Douglas Laing, 2017)
Nose: Such a sweet, mature, barbecue-esque type smoke. Superbly balanced with lots of little complexities. Slightly mineral, with hints of smoked vanilla custard, and also fruitier notes like overripe banana and a whiff of pineapple. Finally some aniseed as well. I could nose this for a very long time.
Taste: A nice salty arrival, followed by seaweed, cracked black pepper and hints of iodine. The barbecue smoke (accompanied by some lovely cured meat) is soft and subtle. A touch of oak. Again, the balance is perfect.
Finish: Lingering smoke. Sweet. Finally some yellow fruits. Long.
Rating: 90
Proper, proper mature Islay whisky. If you are like me, and you’d rather drink something with more subtleties instead of overpowering peat, than this is a treat.
Sample provided by Douglas Laing
Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.
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