Douglas Laing Big Peat Christmas Edition 2013
54.9% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: Punchy, heavily peated, rubber tires, tar, beach fire,... all the descriptors fitting within that aforementioned heavy peat category.
Taste: Earthy, vegetal peat smoke, with ash, black pepper, and marine character.
Finish: Peat smoke, spices, and a saltiness.
This is the third annual release of Douglas Laing’s Big Peat Christmas Edition from 2013. Featuring Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Bowmore, and Port Ellen (with other Islay Single Malts), the Big Peat series takes the best of all that is Islay whisky and finds the perfect blend. The Christmas Edition is a cask strength release with a recipe that changes year to year. I received this bottle as a gift last year, but there are a few local shops still stocking this release.
I think this is a great example of what a heavily peated whisky should be. While it does command a slightly higher price, which might have slightly increased compared to its initial release, the cask strength quality makes it a good value.
For my taste, this is a very raw style of peat with the oily and medicinal notes - which may not be to everyone’s liking. But, if you’ve tried the standard Big Peat release, it’s the same flavours dialed up.
This was tasted side-by-side the Big Peat Christmas Edition 2019. What’s next? Side-by-side with the 2017 Edition and 2018 Edition… slàinte!
Tasting Notes (Official): A Vatted Malt such as this is what the Scotch Whisky industry would call a "marriage of malts". This very bottling carries a big peaty (often called phenolic), salty, beachy, oceanic, ashy and rather chimney sooty selection of Malts from the magical whisky island of Islay. At Christmas we believe that sootiness is particularly appropriate as it highlights the entry route down the chimney of Santa Claus himself! Ally these robust Malts select Big Peat to the fact that no chill filtration takes place – a nicely old fashioned approach – and you will detect a massive amplification of maritime and bonfire qualities on the nose, palate and finish.
Tasted 31 December 2019, 14 January 2020. (Posted 15 January 2020.)
