(한국어 시음기 밑에 있어요!)
And now onto the final and most famous of the Douglas Laing "Remarkable Regional Malts" series: Big Peat!
As one might expect with a name like "Big Peat", this NAS blended malt is purely a concoction from the big beasts of Islay and, unsurprisingly, is heavily peated. Unlike the rest of the series, this one also tells you on its label what distilleries whiskies went into Big Peat. You have Ardbeg, Bowmore, Caol Ila and a very small amount of the legendary closed distillery, Port Ellen (There is a new port Ellen distillery, but it hasn't been open long enough to produce any whisky yet). Bear in mind that the only other whisky that you can reliably find old Port Ellen in are special editions of Johnnie Walker Blue!
This review is focused purely on the base NAS edition of Big Peat, but as this is Douglas Laing's most famous whisky, there are literally dozens of different editions out there, some of them being country specific, some season specific and some age statement variants. While I was in Hokkaido in January I tried a few of the other Big peat versions at Bar Bota in Otaru, including the 25 year old and the cask strength Christmas edition. I cannot recommend them enough and wish that I had made some tasting notes of that 25 year old one so I could review it.
On the bright side though , I did make notes for the Christmas edition so I might review that one later!
Vitals:
ABV: 46%
Colour: Straw.
Chill-filtered: No.
Nose: A heavy peat smoke aroma hits with striking intensity of a burning campfire, giving off meaty notes of smoked ham along with more medicinal tones reminiscent of band-aids, iodine, cough syrup and Dettol anti-bacterial cream. As these aromas fade, a salty, briny maritime note appears, along with tart green apples. 20/25
Palate: The medicinal qualities takes a backseat, allowing notes of apples dipped in saltwater, salted caramel, apple pie, bacon, jerky and salted mackerel to shine through. There's a mild iodine note hiding in the background, but it's almost unnoticeable behind the medley of meaty, fruity and salty dancing around like they are in a mosh pit. 21/25
Finish: The smoke strikes back on the finish, with tobacco, cigar ash and a touch of freshly cracked black pepper. Very long and winding. 19.5/25
Value*: About average price for an entry level Islay malt. It's still a lot more expensive than it is back in Scotland or even in Japan, but the same can be said for all Scotch whiskies that aren't Macallan. 14/25
Conclusion:
A very enjoyable and respectable dram that punches you in the face with its raw peat power. It's considerably more complex than the rest of the line-up (perhaps because of the peat and the layered three dimensionality it brings to the table?) and it's easy to see why this one is the runaway success story of the Remarkable Regional Malts lineup. Put this in a blind tasting with entry level Islay single malts and you would never know that this is a blended malt. I'd recommend trying the age statement versions or the cask strength Christmas versions if you like the original. They are magnitudes better.
Basic Rating: 80.6%
Price Adjusted Rating*: 74.5%
Daily Drinker: Yes
Possible pairing: Barbecue grilled meat, Korean barbecue, yakiniku, jerky, salmon jerky. Essentially anything with a deep, rich meaty flavour to compliment the whisky.
Where to find in Korea: Jura Shop (주라숍)
TLDR Version:
N: Peat, smoke, campfire, smoked ham, band-aids, iodine, cough syrup, anti-bacterial cream, salt, brine and green apples.
P: Salted apples, salted caramel, apple pie, bacon, jerky, salted mackerel and iodine. The flavours blend together very well.
F: Smoky, long, and winding with tobacco, cigar ash and black pepper.
V: Average price for an Islay malt in Korea, but still more expensive than in Scotland or Japan.
C: Peatheads will enjoy this whisky.
빅피트 (한국어):
N: 피트, 스모크향, 훈제 햄, 반창고, 요오드, 가루약, 연고, 소금, 바닷물, 풋사과.
P : 소금에 절인 사과, 소금맛 캐러멜, 사과 파이, 육포, 소금에 절인 고등어, 요오드. 잘 조화가 되어있는 맛이예요.
F: 담배, 시가 재, 후추. 스모크 향이 강하고 피니시가 길어요.
V : 아일라 위스키들의 평균 가격이예요.
C: 피트 애호가들은 이 위스키를 좋아할 거예요.
Buy / Mooch / Pass: Buy.
Review by Glasgowhisky
2020/03/11
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