- Raided Score: 82
- Publication: Drinkhacker
- Excerpt: No matter the source, you’re still shelling out a modest $25 for a bottle, and one would be hard pressed to find a better representative of Islay at that price point.
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- Raided Score: 88
- Publication: Whiskey Raiders
- Excerpt: There's a lot going on here and the creamy sweetness blended with the peppery peat is really quite pleasant.
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Raided Score is a conversion from an external site's score, to our in house uniform scoring system. Please see the FAQ for more.
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Nose:
Sweet cream, peppery spice. Mild smoke here with some rich toffee and smoke notes. Theres surprising amount of activity going on here.
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Taste:
Thin mouth feel but thats no surprise at the legal minimum ABV - theres a lot of complexity though. Seems like a catch 22 but isnt really a problem. Smokey and growing vegetal. Its like a light char kind of smoke with some peppery spice thrown in. Its surprisingly sweet though, with a lot of cream and very light caramel peeking through. A little fishy also. Im really impressed at how much is going on here. I expected a burning log and some nail polish remover thrown in a bottle and not much more.
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Finish:
Short but complex. No astringency, oddly sweet and creamy. The peppery, smoke and subtle vanilla toffee sweetness play really well together.
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Overall:
For a ~$20 bottle, I'm pleasantly surprised. This is no show stopper, nor a Laphroaig QC competitor but at the price its sold at...it doesn't have to be. There's a lot going on here and the creamy sweetness blended with the peppery peat is really quite pleasant. I'm giving this dram a Rank 5 - it doesn't blow anything away but it makes for a surprisingly solid, hyper affordable daily sipper if smoke is your kind of thing.
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Score:
5
- Our in house critic rates spirits on a scale of 0-10 (10 best) and is aggregated the same as external sources