Big Peat 26 Year (1992) Platinum Edition Blended Malt
Whisky: Big Peat 26 Year (1992) Platinum Edition Blended Malt
Country/Region: Scotland/Islay
ABV: 51.5%
Cask: Oak
Age: 26 Years (Distilled 1992, Bottled 2018)
Nose: Coastal, beach dunes, grass, cigarette smoke, beeswax, slightly medicinal, honey, citrus, metallic, hessian.
Palate: Medium-bodied, coastal, honey, beeswax, grass and wildflower, tobacco smoke, tar, medicinal and herbal toward the end, charred wood.
Finish: Medium-length and mild with hints of honey, charred wood, and beachy brine.
Score: 7 (84)
Mental Image: Coastal Apiarist on a Smoke Break
Narrative & Notes: Coastal strolling with an apiarist to their hives— cool sea breezes, dried grass waving on sandy dunes, mellow cigarette smoke from the occasional drag, and beeswax. A calming medicinal smoke dispersed the drones as sweet honey and white flowers appeared with hints of pineapple, metallic tin, and musty hessian. Medium-bodied, the flavor profile was much the same with coastal beehives providing beeswax and sweet honey among waving dune grasses and wild flowers. Tobacco smoke with a touch of acrid creosote and tar developed as more herbal notes took a medicinal and slightly fermented quality at the end— hops, pine, spruce, and outlandish brewery experiment aged in charred oak perhaps. The finish was medium-length and mild with hints of honey, charred wood, and beachy brine.
Refined, but occasionally punchy, this mature Big Peat release featured a clear structural progression and lovely circular evolution as the palate and nose mirrored one another. Sweeter honeyed elements balanced nicely against the soft brine and occasionally acrid smoke to give this a real liveliness that only weakened on the finish. Certainly a good deal more composed than the typical big, loud, and brash Big Peat special releases, I thought this was about right in line with other “mystery” Islay single malt releases with similar age-vintage marks, but at an appreciable discount.
Overall, a boisterous old peated whisky with a refined and classy side.
