Whisky : Secret Islay 10 Year; Lady of the Glen

Country/Region : Scotland/Islay

ABV : 57.9%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon Hogshead, PX Sherry Octave

Age : 10 Years (Distilled 16 Aug. 2009, Bottled 7 Jan. 2020)

Nose : Sweet salted caramel coffee beverage, caramelized brown sugar, rich maple syrup, and holiday spice rum butter punch.  Winter aromas of baking Christmas cake, burning resinous pine, and gingerbread house displays.  The wife pegged it to a specific childhood memory of Chinatown in the winter happily buying a bowl of doufuhua— a silky soft tofu pudding covered with hot maple syrup.

Palate : Medium to thick body with mild astringency.  Rich flavor profile with sweet syrupy berry desserts, resinous pinewood smoldering in the fireplace, candied caramel apples, and honey roasted ham skin.  On the back end were hints of salt and mineral oil.

Finish :  Lingering sweet Christmas desserts and warm smoke.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Winter Village Dessert Shack

Something Similar : Port Charlotte MRC:01 (similar sweet fruity dessert and roasted ham)

Something Similar : Kavalan Distillery Reserve Peaty Oak (similar ham/sweet fruits, more tropical)

Something Similar : Benriach 6 Year; Duncan Taylor ‘The Octave’ (similar Christma ham and fruits)

Notes : This was an absolutely wonderful use of an octave cask to impart a heavy dose of sherry onto a heavily peated  Islay whisky.  The sherry and peat influences punched at an equal weight and really balanced beautifully against one another.  Lady of the Glen does not provide any real clues as to the  origin of this mystery malt besides somewhere on Islay.  A friend guessed Ardbeg, the wife guessed Laphroaig, and I am inclined to think Caol Ila.  It reminded me a fair bit of some of the heavily sherried young malts from Caol Ila and Laphroaig that I have tried.  While the bottle initially felt a bit pricy at $120, especially for a mystery malt, the quality was high that this was a great pick up.  If it were a Laphroaig or Ardbeg then, absolutely no doubt, it would have been a fair deal more expensive with the distillery name slapped on it— and honestly, it scores well compared to the product of any Islay distillery.