Big Peat Christmas Edition (52.8%)

Big Peat Christmas Edition is Big Peat, the Douglas Laing Islay blended malt that carries Port Ellen. Big Peat folds the island's peated malts into one assertive dram. Each release is a fresh vatting of Islay's smoky malts.

It brings together single malts from across Islay rather than one distillery alone. Built without an age statement, Port Ellen lends the vatting a graceful, maritime smoke. Maturation in a refill ex-Bourbon barrel kept the malt lean and smoky. Maturation in old refill casks keeps the distillery character front and centre. Vattings like this let the smoky malts of Islay shine together. The peat is the point here, drawn from Islay's smoky distilleries. Bottlings carrying closed distillery malt grow rarer each year. Douglas Laing has long specialised in the malts of the islands. A dram built for those who take their whisky smoky.

At 52.8%, undiluted, it is bold and smoky. Crystallised lemon and a salty tang ride on embers of Islay peat, with a quiet sweetness from the refill cask. A crystallised lemon and a saline tang lift the smoke. A long, briny finish smoulders to the end. A bold Islay blended malt carrying a thread of legendary Port Ellen.