Islay (猴塞雷) by Taiwanese independent bottler The Whiskyfind with an outpour of 312 bottles. This is part of their "the art of calligraphy" series with the label " 猴塞雷" being a play on words. Basically 猴塞雷 sounds like 好犀利, which in Cantonese means "very awesome". The label looks pretty cool and is describing a 7 year, bottled in 2009, scotch from Islay.
Nose: wood, sharp smoke, sour notes.
Palate: sharp, intense wood, some very light fruit, heat.
Finish: moderate, heat, tingly.
Sharp, taiwanese heat, and intense wood basically summarizes it. Something different. Obviously, the big mystery is the identity of the distiller... from taste I'm pretty sure it isn't one of the southern Islay big boys (Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Lagavulin) and I'm pretty sure it would be better marketing to post a big boy name. Highly doubt it's from Bowmore or Bruichladdich. Kilchoman might have needed money in 2009, but their stuff tend to be more smooth. Caol Ila seems like a reasonable choice since they're a production powerhouse that IBs seem to love, but the mild peat/smoke profile doesn't quite fit a Caol Ila 7 year. If it's Caol Ila, it seems like a strange barrel pick as I would have gone for something stronger or smokier, but It's still pretty good. I have no idea. Had this @thewhiskyfind bottle at Larriere-cour, Taipei, Taiwan.

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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