Finlaggan Cask Strength, 58% abv.

Apparently, Finlaggan is an IB Islay by The Vintage Malt Whisky Company. Older bottles were rumored to be Lagavulin while newer bottles were rumored to be young Caol Ila.

Nose: peat and smoke, some meat in there (bacon?), hints of leather, reminds me of Lagavulin initially, but then the wood comes to the front with time.

Palate: dry, oily, basically peat smoke on top of some light fruit juice, back palate is sweet and sooty. Not too into the sooty part.

Finish: moderate to long, sweet like simple syrup or dried beer, drying mouthfeel, abv burn.

It's a pretty peaty Islay malt, has all those elements and some strength behind it. It's basically all soot. There is an underlying sweetness to it as well, but its not a very well defined sweetness, and all that sweetness appears to build up on and onto the finish. There is some abv burn too. If it wasn't so sooty, I'd give it a higher score. Before ordering this pour, I thought Finlaggan was just some mysterious lesser known distillery that made peaty whiskies. After some post-tasting research, now I know it's an IB. I suspect it's Laga just because my initial notes pointed to similar aromatic profiles. To me, Lagas are honey sweet and smoke, while Caol Ilas are salty and smokey. Young Caol Ilas are intense, but not sooty, which doesn't point to Caol Ila... but when was the last time anyone tasted a Caol Ila, young or old, and thought Laga? And vice versa. So my initial gut says Laga, I think Laga. However, that soot flavor is something I think is either manufactured in a Balcones-esque way, or the casks went wild. Interestingly, not many people think it's Laphroiag or Ardbeg. It's definitely a peat monster though. Could be a froggie as they also get sweeter with age, but Ardbeg doesn't seem to match the tasting experience well. I also find it interesring that my tasting notes are somewhat similar to the tasting notes on the back label.

Grade: C+

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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