2014 marks another benchmark with "Torfa" - the first peated whisky from this revived distillery, fully matured in ex-bourbon barrels and peated to 20ppm. It takes its name from the Old Norse language with which the Scots dialect spoken in North East Scotland has an affinity and translates to “turf” or “peat”. Non-chill filtered. Natural colour. Retasted April 2018... Bright gold. White pepper and sweet earthy phenols combine with beeswax and biscuity malt; more cocoa / dark chocolate-like after extended time in the glass. A full bodied, succulent delivery with toasted barley, hints of fruit and a superb slathering of sweet peat. Melts in your mouth with near zero heat, the buzzing spices ricocheting through the finish. Uncomplicated but very pure. Beautiful malt. 50% Alc./Vol. First tasted April 2014... Pale straw gold. Opening sniff detects hints of vanilla wafer biscuit, dried grass and white pepper; more cocoa like after exposure as mild peat infuses dark chocolate, accentuating with time in the glass. Quite sweet but remains in check with the mid palate featuring juicy vanilla malt and the finish highlighting the peat as wet-wool / lanolin. Controlled spices add length and continue into an attractive choc-peat fade. Smokey, but in an accessible Caol Ila kind of way. Nicely done. 93 points

An unusual age statement is inspired by Alfred Barnard's visit to the distillery in 1887 which became part of his book, “The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom”. According to Diageo Director of Whisky Outreach, Dr. Nick Morgan, “At the end of the tour, he was given a taste of the whisky…he tasted an eight-year-old Lagavulin, which, of course, remember at the time was actually quite old…whiskies were considered to be venerable once they got around six years old in the 19th Century,” Morgan said in an interview with www.whiskycast.com. “He declared that whisky to be exceptionally fine, so our mission with this bottling was to find an exceptionally fine eight-year-old liquid which we thought Barnard would quite like if he were to be back here tasting it today.” Tasting note: Very pale straw gold showing considerable legs. Powerful and complex aromas include cocoa, sea spray, white pepper, dilute Elastoplast and lanolin followed by hints of citrus zest. Several minutes air contact accents the latent malt as well as dark chocolate. Concentrated but also surprisingly soft; almost creamy with grassy malt and a juicy vanilla, kelp and peppermint finish that goes long into the aftertaste. A departure from the 16, but terrific young malt. 48% Alc./Vol.

Named after a peninsula on the coast of Islay, Bill Lumsden has mixed it up with this release employing a combination of casks: Pedro Ximénez, charred virgin oak and ex-bourbon. An Oa (pronounced “an oh”) will become a part of the core range joining the 10 year old, Uigeadail, and Corryvreckan. Lumsden describes the whisky as "...smoky, sweet and rounded, with unusually, grilled artichokes in the finish." Tasting note: Bright gold. As always deceptively complex, developing with sherried oak aromas, lanolin, sooty vanilla and later, dark chocolate and suggestions of smoldering green pine. Entry is assertively salty, kippery, peppery. Mid palate is oily, medium dry, offering sherried richness along with piney juniper, over-baked sponge cake, black tea and hints of smoked meats at the finish. No shortage of peat, but loses some momentum in the final stages. Non chill filtered. 46.6% Alc./Vol.