Much like the Lagavulin I reviewed a little while back, Tom has already reviewed this one on MaltFascination too. While he and I often draw similar conclusions, we do have different palates. I likes the High Char Port Finish a lot more than he did. And generally when it comes to young peated whiskies, he scores them a bit higher than I do. You know, we agreed upon this beforehand to keep things interesting.

Of course we didn’t.

Anyway, this one caught my interest because I tend to really like Mezcal too, although with it being quite expensive and not as much liked as whisky (by me, that is), I don’t go in that direction often. You can’t have everything as a hobby, can you?

But, Lagavulin and Mezcal. Two things I really enjoy. Two smoky things too. I bet this’ll be interesting!

Sniff:
The combination of two styles of smokiness combine well, but does ‘dilute’ (or mellow) the impact of both. Quite herbaceous, but also coastal and peaty. Very green, quite salty, marram grass and brine.

Sip:
A sharp arrival, with quite a woody bite. Lots of coastal salinity, with lots of herbaceous notes. There definitely is a bit of green agave notes of mezcal in here.

Swallow:
A long finish that once again shows lots of smoky notes. It’s surprisingly crisp and not unlike a fresh Islay morning, with a brisk breeze.

Tom, being more of a writer than I am, went all prosaic on this one. I have to say it’s a ridiculously gorgeous whisky though. The two styles of smoke complement each other very nicely and the slightly more crisp and aromatic notes of agave distillate combine surprisingly well with the rather heavy style of Lagavulin. I am very surprised by how well this works, to be honest.

90/100

Available in the secondary market for € 350 at the time of writing.