CL1 - Elements of Islay - 62.9% - 50 cl  

Single Islay Malt Scotch Whisky

A big-boned single Islay malt from a big-windowed distillery with a good view of the Paps. This is a hefty, uncompromising dram, easily tamed with a drop of water.

Nose: Boiled sweets and cut grass initially, then more savoury notes move in - Bisto, beef crisps. Expected alcohol prickle fades away to chocolate and some bakery notes - dough, brown bread. Some spices, then medicine cabinet aromas develop, before matches, buttered veg, toffee apple, tweed and honey. A complex nose that needs time to settle. Water brings out toffee biscuit and barley sugar.

Palate: Stewed fruit, burnt wood, red apple, smokey bacon, honey. Plenty of balanced peat, with woodsmoke, coal and bonfire. Peppery spice in the mid-palate, with some chilli and hot-buttered toast with honey. Water lifts the coal, spices and apple flavours.

Finish: Warming and long, with honey, pepper and coal surrounding a savoury cereal base, with occasional flashes of cooked apple. A salty tinge right at the death.

Comment: Another Element that likes a drop of water. Intense, powerful, uncompromising and extremely complex.