This is another Scotch Malt Whisky Society offering - this time an 8 year Islay blend. No information on what constitutes the blend, unfortunately. Bottled at 50% ABV, no coloring, no filtering.
Nose: Very heavily peated - phenols for days. There is also a very nice grassiness underlying it, and a nice mint or menthol aspect. Leather jackets. Dried tobacco. Hints of glue. Smoke.
Mouthfeel: Medium-to-heavily oily.
Palate: Very tasty, even though the smoke and peat are very powerful and intertwine with every other flavor. Apples, applewood. Barley sugar, brown sugar. That grassiness from the nose. The mint from the nose. Wood presence.
Finish: Not as lengthy as you might think, but the smoke does linger and linger, as Islay smoke tends to do. It's sticky and stays with you.
Verdict: For a young blend, this is quite good stuff. Someone did a good job blending. I'm so curious as to what's in this - Ardbeg? Lagavulin? Port Charlotte? Kilchoman? - but I'll likely never find out. The grassy/minty note is my favorite here - it really offsets the phenols in a nice, delectable way. I wouldn't join the SMWS just for this, but if you were already a member, I would definitely pick up a bottle to try.
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