Douglas Laing Big Peat Christmas Edition 2018
53.9% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: This is MEDICINAL. Heavily peated, heavily smoked. Spices. Distant cola flavours. Emphasis on the wallop of medicinal peat!
Taste: Earthy peat. Plant roots, diesel, oil, heavily charred wood, spices. I’m not sure if these descriptors are off-putting for anybody, but it really is an amazing assortment. Very definitively heavily peated.
Finish: The intensity actually fades quickly; heavy, dense smoke and an earthiness gives way to black pepper, ginger, and spices.
The Christmas Edition 2018 reminds me a bit of Bunnahabhain Ceòbanach for its heavy medicinal qualities. Though when you are tasting a blend of seven(!!) Islay distilleries, its really hard to say “a-ha!” and confidently attribute tasting notes to any one in particular. So, I do mean for the comparison to only be taken lightly... It could easily be the Lagavulin or Kilchoman or Bowmore or Ardbeg or Caol Ila or Port Ellen or Bruichladdich or Laphroaig shining through! (At least one active distillery should be missing since marketing materials stated the Christmas Edition 2018 has only 7 profiles, and they list the closed Port Ellen as included.)
Douglas Laing have been producing the “Remarkable Regional Malts” for a number of years and it was actually Big Peat that kicked it off. The annual Big Peat Christmas Editions started back in 2011. The price premium on top of the regular Big Peat expression is worth the extra ABVs to get you at or near cask strength. The flavours are also more raw. Even at 53.9%, it can be enjoyed neat (though water really benefits this dram).
I’m sure there are some younger spirits in this bottle to provide the powerfully peaty punch, exception to the token amounts on Port Ellen that closed in 1983, because as whisky ages in the barrel - peated whisky, that is - the smokiness slowly fades with time. I haven’t had the opportunity to try much in the way of 20-year plus aged Islay distillery stock, but I do recall Laphroaig 21 and 15 being much less potent than the 10-year.
Well, I’ve committed to buying this each holiday season - as it gives me a perfect excuse to ensure there is at least one peat bomb on my shelf... Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Sláinte Mhath!
Tasted 17 December 2018. (Posted 19 December 2018.)
