Douglas Laing's Big Peat (700 ml)

Big Peat draws its name and its character from the four distilleries that define Islay's southern and eastern shores — Ardbeg, Port Ellen, Bowmore, and Caol Ila — assembled by third-generation selectors Fred Laing Jr. and Cara Laing at Douglas Laing's Hillington 'Sample Room', where thousands of individual cask samples are held under one roof. The inclusion of Port Ellen — silent since 1983 — is the expression's most transgressive element: a closed distillery whose remaining stocks diminish with every bottling, lending a medicinal coastal depth that no living Islay distillery can replicate. Each component is drawn from refill casks, preserving the raw peat character of the spirit rather than layering it with new-wood sweetness. The blend is bottled at 46% ABV, without colouring or chill-filtration, a house-wide commitment Douglas Laing adopted before the practice became fashionable — retaining the natural oils that carry phenolic smoke across the palate. What separates Big Peat from single-malt Islay expressions is structural: the four-distillery blend creates a composite smoke profile — Ardbeg's tar and brine, Caol Ila's cleaner medicinal peat, Bowmore's floral heather smoke, and Port Ellen's vanishing coastal iodine — that no single site can produce alone. NV composition; drink now or hold short-term.