Big Peat The Thropaigeach Edition - Blog post by Jan Autzen Laursen

Post by Jan Autzen Laursen

In my previous blog I had the pleasure of tasting their Mizunara cask, which impressed me enormously. Now I have invested in a bottle of Fèis Ìle from Big Peat myself, and that was even before I had tasted it, so here comes my completely honest opinion on whether you should buy a bottle or keep the wallet in your back pocket.

A quick summary of Big Peat: it is a blended whisky made up of four different Islay whiskies. Caol Ila, Ardbeg, Bowmore and Port Ellen. Personally I would have preferred it blended with Laphroaig, because I think that would have given it an entirely different finish on the palate. Fortunately Big Peat is not a bad dram, so with or without Laphroaig I will always have a bottle of it on the shelf.

This bottling has been given a final finish in Caribbean rum casks, and on first meeting the glass the familiar peat aroma you know from Big Peat is tucked well away beneath a rather sweet smell that pushes forward. Picture a pleasant evening around the fire where those familiar bananas are cut down the middle, a fresh piece of chocolate is slipped in and the whole thing goes into the embers. That smell as you unwrap your campfire dessert is exactly what pushes forward in this dram. Fruity, banana-like peat aroma with a hint of dark chocolate rises slowly out of the glass. Not bad at all.
The palate surprises me a fair bit, though.

Buy it here - exclusively at Whisky.dk