Big Peat The Taiwan Edition (53.5%)

Big Peat The Taiwan Edition, from Douglas Laing, vats Islay's smoky malts with Port Ellen at its core. It gathers Islay's smoky malts into a rich, coastal blended malt. Big Peat has appeared in countless editions for markets and festivals.

A blended malt vats single malts from several distilleries, here the peated names of Islay. Built without an age statement, the Port Ellen component lends its refined, oily smoke. An American oak cask shaped it, lending only a light sweetness under the smoke. Long, cool maturation in Islay warehouses lets the smoke knit slowly with the oak. 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.

Undiluted at 53.5%, it is deep and smoky. Gentle oak vanilla beneath the smoke, while a briny peat smoke carries oily lemon, brine and a lanolin wax. It is elegant and deep, the peat folded into the malt. Deep and elegant, the smoke lingers long. An assertive, coastal blended malt touched by Port Ellen smoke.