Review by: TOModera
What was the occasion: Bunch of blends, blended malts, and blendings of Scotch around the house. That can’t be! I need to convert those into silly thoughts, bad balance, urine, and a review or six!
I don’t make the rules, I just follow them folks.
What whisky did we review? Big Peat 33 1985 Small Batch is another blended malt from Douglas Laing, however contrary to the standard release or the Xmas release, this has an age statement and a vintage. As usual, I’ll reiterate that “Small Batch” means nothing from a standardisation point of view, and there were only 1,500 bottles released.
In addition to the vintage and the age statement, we have a rare occurrence: An actual cask type mentioned, with this blended malt being finished in Cognac and Sherry casks.
Jump down to the bias for my reaction to that…
What’s the distillery? Douglas Laing blends malts, releases single malts as independent bottlers, employs the children and grandchildren of Douglas Laing Sr., and chews bubble gum. And they banned gum 60 years ago.
Seriously, there’s very little on the group beyond that, if you want more, check out my previous Douglas Laing reviews, I don’t love repeating myself.
What’s my bias? You finished a blend of 33-year-old whiskies with two types of casks? Fucking yikes my dude, fucking yikes. That’s like the biggest red flag beyond hiding your love of World of Warcraft from a dating profile. Luckily, in addition to not taking price into consideration when reviewing and scoring a whisky, I also keep that type of information hidden from myself. Luckily my memory randomly works at times, so this works for me. So while future me (which is present me at time of writing this but past me at time of posting) knows it and that’s a bias, present me wrote the notes not knowing that.
Oh, and I enjoy Big Peat. I don’t love it, but I enjoy it. It’s fine. I reviewed a few of them and liked them. There’s some who don’t like that, because the price is included in their reviews, whereas it isn’t in mine, but keep that all in mind while reading.
Alright, now that I’ve written a section that commenters will ignore, let’s move on, shall we?
Distillery: Douglas Laing.
Bottler: Blender Bottling.
Region: Blended Malt.
ABV: 47.2%.
Age: 33 years. Distilled in 1985. Bottled in 2019.
Cask type: Cognac and Sherry Cask Finish.
Price: €389.
Color: 2.5Y 7/10
Nose: Banana, coal, passion fruit, mint/freshly cut grass
Huh. Close to the 26-year-old one with the fresh grass. That said, last time I declared the profile close to oughts Ardbeg, and this is less that and more fruit forward. Nice coal note in there too, but wish there was a bit more to it.
Which is quickly becoming a regular sentence on these reviews, but we move on.
Taste: Molasses, gravel, anise, mint, grape, cocoa
Sweet and rough earth on this. If you don’t eat gravel, then congratulations for not playing on a gravel roadway growing up. Because kids fall and mouths stay open. Go lick a cement wall, it’s about the same.
Good amount of complexity here, though more in that “a bunch of ingredients” way, not in the “it all came together well” kind of way. Like if you’re having something called “girl dinner”, which I have when I want, because a plate of random things is fun. Also I love carbs. And cheese.
Finish: Ash, caramel, banana, toothpaste, cinnamon
Ah, they used some more Caol Ila again. Also the mint and spice amps up, the funk is back, and it works. Is it amazing? No, it’s just good, and that’s basically where I’m at with Big Peat.
I’m sorry I accused that big ole freak of eating children.
Conclusion: Fruity, rich, and spiced, it’s nice. It’s not really bad, like one would think when having a 33-year-old Blended malt that was finished, so good for them.
That said, is it “OMG 33-year-old Scotch” great? No, not in the least. I liked both the 25-year-old and the 26-year-old better, if only marginally. It’s good. It’s tasty. I enjoyed the spice, and the richness, and the slight funk and fruit. And while my reviews do not include price in the final score, I don’t think I’d try and find a bottle. I don’t think you’re missing out trying a dram.
Again, if you’re curious, try a dram at a bar, or from a friend, or sneak down from the attic you hide in, unbeknownst to the family you live with while they sleep and pour a tiny bit. There’s better Big Peats out there, sadly.
Final Score: 83.
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.
Malt Runners 