A very dark and balsamic Islay malt. Forget the usually breezy and salty style of the distillery: 42 months of finish in a very old Oloroso butt gave it a surprising twist! As it sometimes happens, the interaction between sherry and peat turned out into something which is not just the sum of wine and smoke. At the nose it’s extremely spicy, oaky, with intensely aromatic notes of mint, camphor, eucalyptus, pine needles. Dark and brooding! The same menacing intensity can be found at the palate: again, it’s not obviously sherried at all. No fruit, no wine, no sweetness: it’s as brutal and uncompromising as it can be. It’s very dry, with impressive touches of leather and a robust tannic presence. Peat smoke shows up only at a later stage: very ashy, with notes of a pinewood on fire. The finale is just as dry, spicy, dark and oaky.