Interesting. A cheap, twist-off blend… that also happens to be aged and specifically from Islay.
Islay Mist 8y is produced by MacDuff International, the same people who gave us Grand MacNish – which has been referred to as “scrotch”. Less interesting, more worrisome.
And a look at the back of the bottle points to its use of Laphroaig in the mix… interesting again.
From their website, apparently this was originally blended in 1922 for some Lord’s birthday party. They looked for a custom blend because they were worried not everyone could handle the full Islay single malt experience. Marketin’ since been marketin’, yo. Here’s what we thought:
smell
Dan – woody, smokey, burn
Simon – fireplace, spent matches
Goran – rosewater, black pepper, mildly medicinal
Ryan – currants, vanilla
Davey – cidery
neat
Dan – light on tongue but lingers, charcoal, te bheag
Simon – smoked, very nice
Goran – very sweet, chocolate, no bite, no smoke
Ryan – nibs, mild, smoke, apples
Davey – accessible, little whisky face
splash
Dan – opens but changes texture, sweetness
Simon – dissassembled, not recommended
Goran – surprisingly unnecesary, n/a
Ryan – n/a
Davey – n/a
Islay Mist 8y Blended Scotch – 40% 750ml – $26.95 – Islay
Try it? Not necessary. Buy it? Good shelf filler.
[…] Read the review […]
I really like Islay Mist 8. You certainly won’t mistake it for a single malt. Its too light and sweet. But, it does have some genuine peaty notes that everyone likes so much. This is, by far, my favourite blended scotch, and the only one that I buy.
[…] Islay Mist has done well for us in the past as one of the few geographically specific blends out there, and even beat the Islay single malt from McClelland’s (here, Matt is shouting that McClelland’s is too expensive to be considered a deal anymore). I found this new expression at the SAQ across from the Notre Dame cathedral in Montreal. Auspicious provenance, etc, etc. […]