Big Peat The Orange Edition

Big Peat The Orange Edition, a Douglas Laing vatting of Islay malts, holds Port Ellen among its components. It is built to show the big, smoky heart of Islay in a single glass. It carries a piece of closed distillery Islay in every bottle.

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. Refill wood flatters Port Ellen, holding back the vanilla so the smoke and citrus speak. A modern Islay dram with a thread of the past inside. The Islay malts give it a smoke quite unlike a mainland blend. 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.

Undiluted at 50%, it is deep and smoky. Crystallised lemon and a salty tang ride on a smoky, mineral note, with a whisper of coconut from the cask. A crystallised lemon and a saline tang lift the smoke. Salt, smoke and wax draw out the close. A smoky, characterful blended malt built on Islay peat and Port Ellen.