Torabhaig 7 Years Old 2018 Cask #1127 (Phil & Simon Thompson)

Torabhaig is the newest distillery on the Isle of Skye, opened in 2017 by Mossburn Distillers as the island's second after Talisker, in a restored 1820s farmstead at Teangue on Sleat. This independent single cask, number 1127, was bottled by Phil and Simon Thompson of the Thompson Bros label and Dornoch distillery.

Distilled in 2018 from heavily peated barley and matured seven years in Bourbon cask 1127, the spirit was bottled at its natural 55.7 percent, without chill filtration or added colour. The distillery's well tempered peat keeps the smoke in balance with the coastal fruit. The heavily peated barley would make a fierce spirit at most distilleries, but Torabhaig's long fermentation and careful cut keep the smoke in check.

On the palate a coastal peat smoke meets lemon, vanilla and a struck flint minerality, fresh and maritime, with a long, gently smoky finish. A sibling Thompson cask of Skye's second distillery, the smoke settling over seven years in oak. A sibling to the brothers' other 2018 Torabhaig, each cask telling a slightly different version of the same young spirit. There is a brininess and a sea spray lift to it, the unmistakable mark of a Skye island malt.