Torabhaig 7 Years Old 2018 (WhiskyHeroes)

Torabhaig, opened in 2017, is the second distillery on the Isle of Skye after Talisker, built by Mossburn Distillers in a restored 1820s farmstead at Teangue. This independent bottling, from WhiskyHeroes, is named The Cuillin Howl: Skye's Fury, after the dramatic Cuillin mountains that define the island's skyline. It is a single cask from the 2018 vintage.

Distilled from heavily peated barley and matured seven years in Bourbon oak, the spirit was bottled at its natural 58.1 percent, without chill filtration or colour. Torabhaig's well tempered peat keeps the smoke balanced against 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 maritime peat smoke meets lemon, vanilla and a flinty minerality, with a warming spice and a sea breeze through a long, smoky finish. A drop of water opens the citrus. A wild, characterful independent single cask from Skye's second distillery. The Cuillin name nods to the mountains that loom over the island, fitting for a whisky this elemental. White chocolate and a touch of burnt marshmallow round out the finish, a recurring signature of Torabhaig's young spirit.