I saw this bargain vatted malt in the store today and picked one up, $20USD. One of a series of vatteds to just hit the shelves here (the other two are "Golden Harvest" and "Anchor Bay"). No age statement, 40% abv with the blend showing a definite Kildalton heritage. Pungent peat on the nose with Islaydine, coal tar, kippers smoldering fern fronds. If had to hazard a guess, I'd say there's a goodly amount of Laphroaig in there and maybe a dash or two of Ardbeg, but it's got a little more going on than just an Islay blast (Talisker?).
According to the the Lombard website, this vatted is from their series blended according to a "style" rather than region, "Tidal Ebb" being their Islay vatted. The label notes state "FULL BODIED, robust Malt whisky. Well balanced, with a hint of sweetness and fine lingering aftertaste betraying its origins near the sea."
Peat assaults the palate with some youthful fiery spice, bacony cinammon apples, cedary sweetness, slightly piney/grassy and a salty dulse tang on the tail. Not overly complex or developing, with a very quick-fading finish. The taste is BIG, but then it quickly degrades into a sweet nothing. May have been better served if the producers had bottled it unfiltered at 46% instead of diluting it down like this.
For the price of admission, it is a pretty entertaining dram, and more interesting than many vatted malts costing 2-3x as much. The name says it all and that's pretty much all there is to this whisky. Your opinions please?
Sláinte, Bushido ©2003