(Bottle) Dark brown colour with brief, foamy, beige head. Malty, smoky nose with oak wood, Islay whisky, dried fruit, dates, chocolate, banana bread, cinnamon, peat smoke and treacle toffee. Malty, smoky taste with notes of oak wood, Islay whisky, dark bread, dried fruit, dates, chocolate, cinnamon, tar, treacle and a mild spicy bitterness in the finish. Medium body, with a touch of sweetness. Quite peaty, smoky and woody, but fairly well balanced and tasty. But it's still not the most complex and exciting whisky barrel aged beer I've had. Nice one, though.

Bottle from Sainsbury's, Wycombe. I've always enjoyed I&G's special editions, and I love Islay whiskies - whilst Laphroaig isn't my favourite of the Islay malts I was thoroughly looking forward to this brew. It's amber-brown with a beige to tan head. The aroma and flavour don't disappoint - there's a big hit of dry smokiness up front, plenty of peat and a medicinal note, all set against a treacle toffee background with wood and a touch of vanilla. There's a touch of dark fruit in there too - cherry maybe, and raisins. Yum! Where it falls down is the texture - it's a little thinner than you'd expect for a brew of this strength (especially a barrel-aged one), and you do get a little bit of tap water. Nevertheless,it's still a winner for me; very enjoyable as long as you like Islay whiskies.

Bottle from the LCBO. Dark Ruby pour, with a medium off white head. Aroma is loads of peat, smoke, and all out scotch, with some bready, slightly buttery semi sweet malts from the beer. Vanilla, earthy barrel, huge scotch notes. Low to medium hitter, sweet fruit, boozy, vanilla and bready malts with loads of smoke and peat.

Bottle from B&M. Pours a dark ruby red with small beige top. Smoky earth aroma with whisky, dark malt with some sweetness coming through. That smoke and whisky flavour dominates with dark malts, hint of caramel. Medium bodied, semi-drying. An acquired smoky taste. A little too intense for me where just sniffing for aroma gave me a headache. Its good that they didn't water down for the likes of me though.

Flasche 0,33l: Dunkles Mahagoni, Schwarz, glasklar, kein Schaum; sehr würzige + deutlich rauchige Nase, leichte malzig-rauchige Süße, dunkle/getrocknete Beeren, Schinkenspeck, Röstaromen, Holzkohle, Röstmalz, Vanille, dunkles Karamell, dunkle Brotkruste, kräftige würzig-trockene Eiche; sehr würziger + rauchiger Körper, kräftige würzige Süße, dunkle/eingelegte Früchte, leichte florale Hopfennoten, leichte fruchtige Säure, kräftig Röstmalz, dunkles Karamell, Vanille, dunkle Schokolade, cremig, dezente Kohlensäure, leichter Torfrauch, würzige Eiche; angenehmer rauchig-würziger Nachgang

Clear reddish-brown beer, thin off white head. Smell is smoky with the whisky, just a little caramel coming through. Flsvour is smoky but not as overwhelmingly so as I'd feared. It's smokey and sweet with some caramel and malt coming in along with the boozy warmth. Brilliantly balanced between the sweet warming booziness and the harsher notes.

Black with a small light brown head. A smoke and wooden barrels aroma. Light bittersweet with a good smoke, dark fruit and wooden barrels ending. Holliday 2024, Helsinki.

Bottle in box thx Sam 2024-06-17 Göteborg AR: sweet caramel, peaty, black ham, AP: dark red, wee beige lid F: sweet caramel, peaty, black ham