Review by: TOModera

What was the occasion: Too many blends in the house, now there’s many blends in my belly. Or wherever alcohol goes, I was terrible at biology.

It’s not the right foot, is it?

What whisky did we review? Big Peat is a blended malt released as part of the “randomly named” Blended malt series that Douglas Laing brings out (aka the Remarkable Regional Malts). 

Big Peat is the blended malt one where they blended together whiskies from Islay, including (but not limited to) Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Bowmore, and even Port Ellen.

Yes, there’s Port Ellen in here, according to the company. How much? Who do you think this is, Compass Box? We don’t know. Let’s just be happy there’s no grain.

What’s the distillery? Douglas Laing is an independent bottler and blender of Scotch. Typically when I review them, I review one of their independent bottlings. The blends, called the Remarkable Regional Malts (which isn’t on the Douglas Laing website), are Big Peat (Islay), Scallywag (Speyside), Timorous Beastie (Highlands), Rock Island (Islands), The Gauldrons (Campbeltown), and the Epicurean (Lowlands).

So for those of you scoring these are home, we have a Big hairy person, a dog, a mouse, an Island, a Bay off the west coast of Scotland, and a generic name for someone who seeks out sensual, expensive pleasures. That’s a heck of a naming convention, and I’m so happy there aren’t more regions, otherwise we’d start getting into esoteric concepts.

New from Douglas Laing: Bosium Strip blended malt.

What’s my bias? Beyond my feelings on the marketing for this lineup, so far I’ve been cautiously optimistic about the Douglas Laing Blended Malts (aka the Remarkable Regional Malts). Scallywag was nice, Rock Island/Oyster wasn’t bad even though it had Arran in it, and other Big Peat releases I enjoyed. Also I’m a peat head at the end of the day, and this is a blend of peated whiskies.

So I’m pretty hyped for this one to be at least okay, if not good, because getting my hopes up is something that died with my childhood innocence.

Yikes, that’s fucking darker then I meant to be, sorry about that. Let’s dive into the whisky, shall we?

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Distillery: Douglas Laing.

Bottler: Distillery Bottling.

Region: Blended Malt.

ABV: 46%.

Age: Unknown.

Cask type: Unknown.

Price:  €32.

Color: 10Y 9/6

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Nose: Ash, grass, butter, brown sugar, brine

Interestingly this reminds me more of Caol Ila than a blend. Lots of ash, some grass, some brine and sweetness. It’s a good blend of flavours, though nothing too strong.

Taste: Lemon, ash, brine, molasses, caramel

The ash and lemon are 100% in that Caol Ila wheelhouse, but there’s a lot of brine going on that would make you think Laphroaig.

So imagine if Caol Ila asked Laphroaig to make their whisky and took the first attempt. Which again, not bad, though I am finding just simpler notes to this.

Finish: Lemon zest, charcoal, brine, black licorice

The finish is trying really hard to show off, and it’s nearly there. It’s certainly a bit more complex than the other standard Remarkable releases I’ve had, and it’s probably the nicest finish on a simple whisky.

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Conclusion: It tastes like if Laphroaig was told to make a Caol Ila. Which for a lot of people is great and perfect. Honestly I’d grab this if you’re looking for a blend and need an affordable daily drinker. It beats out Johnnie Walker Black on all fronts and is cheaper then most entry level Islay Single Malts.

Could it have been better? With unlimited money, probably. The distilleries we know that are used are Ardbeg, Bowmore, Caol Ila, and Port Ellen. Assuming it’s a lot of Caol Ila, the rest is merely amping up the brine and not being Caol Ila (I’m a Caol Ila superfan), so it feels less like a great blend and more so Caol Ila that’s had the brine amped up.

If I needed a daily dram, then I’d be buying this.

Final Score: 79.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.