Big Peat Blended Malt Review

Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got a review of an Islay blended malt from Douglas Laing, it’s Big Peat. They say that the blend is from Caol Ila, Bowmore, Ardbeg and Port Ellen(!). Although, I think I’ve seen somewhere that they put in the legal minimum of Port Ellen into the mix to still be able to put it on the label (so, miniscule).

It’s no age statement, so it’s also young, but then again, that’s kind of what you want for the BIG peat hit.

Big Peat 46%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: Peat obviously. Quite light for a peat monster though. Very malty with classic smoky citrus, lemon, a little lime, a little closed at first. You get more as it opens up. Biscuit, vanilla, some burnt hay, more citrus.

Water: More. More peat, more citrus. A small savoury note, some sea salt, toffee, wood smoke.

Taste: Very peaty and phenolic. Quite medicinal to start with cough syrup and TCP, then goes more towards maltiness and ashes, then developing a mineral stony quality with flint, granite and graphite. Sea water into the finish.

Water: Softer arrival, steadily building peat smoke and malt. Lemon juice, some toffee and vanilla. Bitter oak makes an appearance into the finish.

Finish: Medium length. Lots of ashes, flint and sea water.

I got a leaky 20cl bottle of this when I was buying something else. I had higher expectations for this, but I guess it’s mostly young Caol Ila. In the end, I would choose Compass Box’s Peat Monster over this.

72/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #427

Whisky Network Review #476

Network Average: 74.5

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?