2013 Staoisha, AD Rattray 9 yo 57.4% Islay

Bunnahabhain is the Islay ‘imposter’, the whisky that refuses to toe the Islay line of heavy peating. But every rule has an exception, and when Bunnahabhain want to bottle a peaty malt, they call it Staoisha. This is heavily-peated, and smells of the sea as much as peat smoke. Think bonfires on the beach, kippers, breaking waves, the coal bunker, carbolic soap. Staoisha is a small loch not far from the distillery, and it lends its name to this bottling. (NT 05/06/23)