Black Bottle Island Smoke

The whiskey is the color of amber. Smoked salted taffy on the nose, the whiskey is peppery like candied chilies on the palate… slowly warming to reveal tart lemons. The finish is a warming black pepper that’s medium in length. Adding some water brings out more vanilla and caramel on the nose and lemon and apples on the palate while mellowing the chillies. The finish remains a warm black pepper. It’s not a bad dram… I wasn’t expecting so many hot spice flavors. I think I still prefer an Ardbeg 10 or Bowmore 12.

This is a VFM drum! You can definitely smell and taste the smoke. Less smokey and complex than the Ardberg 10, 75% of the taste at 25% of the price! 😝 I can't think of anything smokey that is better at this price!

Big ol’ peat on the nose with notes of toffee and spice. Warming creamy palate. A tad smoother with water, more fruit and oak present as well as vanilla.