A blend of two unnamed Islay distilleries, married, vatted, and aged 9 years before bottled at a very nice 60.5% ABV (full cask strength), with zero filtration of any sort. I have been in the winter-inspired mood for smoky whiskies lately, so I picked this up on sale.
Plus, the aura of mystery lends a sort of romance to the whole affair. Could it be Ardbeg? Bruichladdich? Lagavulin? Port Ellen?? Blackadder won't say. No one knows for sure. And, like almost all Blackadder releases, there is virtually no press or reviews anywhere I can find. Ach! How frustrating. Well, let's get to it:
Nose: This is super interesting. Whenever I'm confronted by a mystery blend, my first instinct is to guess the identity: I would say this is Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila. Absolutely Caol Ila.
I get peat, smoked fish, lemon, fresh pastry, numbing raw alcohol, lime, and charcoal or tar.
With some taming water: Many more maritime notes come out: shellfish, salt, stone, sand, bonfire, calamari with lemon squeeze.
Mouthfeel: Medium, very silky, very oily.
Palate: Follows the nose pretty closely: peat, smoke, fried fish, lemon and lime, hints (barest hints) of malt, pastry crust, tar, gauze, alcohol. Very much "feels" like Caol Ila to me, having had my weight in single cask Caol Ila at this point ... but the fried fish and smoke level here reminds me more of Bunnahabhain.
Honestly, though - could be anything... although probably not Laphroaig considering I get no rubber or iodine at all.
With water: Just like the nose, way more sea influence comes out: shrimp, calamari, lemon, herbs, tar, salt, stone.
Finish: Long, smoky - peat, smoke, wood, pepper, herbs and roots.
Verdict: This is the first Blackadder I've had that I wouldn't immediately label as "Blows me away." It's exceptionally solid, but honestly it's about the same as any number of single cask Caol Ila or Bunnahabhain offerings I've had from other independent bottlers. It's very clean, very tasty, quite rich, but not exceptional. A solid Islay blend, but rather pricy for what it is; I think I would recommend anyone looking at this bottle to get the Big Peat Christmas Edition instead. Similar heft, similar profile, one third the price or less.
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