This is an IB bottled by Jack Wieber from Islay without an age statement or distillery disclosure. The site I bought the sample from had it listed as being Lagavulin, and consensus online points that way, but I’ll save that judgment for once I’ve tried it.
Minutia: Matured in a cask numbered 2802 and bottled in 2015. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Color: Tawny, 1.4.
Nose: Dark fruit, some smoke and oak.
Taste: Funky, smoky, pepper.
Finish: Barbecue meat in a big way. Earthy peat. Medium.
Guess: Sherry, peated Bruichladdich, either Port Charlotte or Octomore.
The nose screamed Sherry to me immediately after pouring, and while I don’t know cask specifics, I believe this spent its life in a Sherry butt. I believe the claim that this is Lagavulin after the reveal, but there was a funk that had me thinking Bruichladdich, possibly even a Sherried Ledaig. Everything about this makes sense as a young, high proof, Sherried Lagavulin. The nose was quite tame other than the big Sherry clue, but the taste ramped it up to a new level and the finish went beyond that. Had I liked the nose more, this would have been scored a good deal more highly, but the taste and finish got a lot of points on their own.
Score: 89
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