If any of my videos were going to start a whisky riot, it would be this one. The passion for peat runs high, and I know that ranking Islay’s finest is a task that stirs strong feelings in even the most measured of drinkers. But my channel members asked to watch me suffer as I sipped and ranked every peated dram I owned, so who am I to deny them?
I love Islay whisky, and I’m very much partial to a good slice of peat in my drams. What follows is my definitive top five when this video was made back in May 2024, built over two weeks of mulling, switching, and diving deep into my sample archive of dead bottles, all in the name of science.
Before I get into it, a couple of ground rules. Every whisky here is one I have actually tried and made a record of tasting, which means, sorry peat bomb fans, there is no Octomore on this list. I simply had not had it at the time.
Kicking off at number five is Ardbeg Uigeadail, the bottle to have when I first started my whisky deep dive back in 2018. It just keeps pulling me back in, a fantastic expression of what a non-age-statement Islay can be. Sliding down to four is the Port Charlotte 10, a proper “if you know, you know” dram that, for me, edges out both the Laphroaig and Ardbeg 10s. At number three sits Kilchoman Machir Bay, a super clean, fresh, slightly citric campfire peat that blew me away in 2019 and went straight onto my buy list. This, I’d argue, is the truest expression of what Kilchoman is.`
My final two were surprisingly easy to place. Number two is an independent release, the Whisky Barons three-year-old Staoisha. It warms my mouth, my belly, my heart and my soul. Think sherbet sticks set on fire, a punch in the gob with umami smoke, tangy plum sauce and a clean malty caramel backbone. It is the most expensive here, but only by a fiver.
And my number one? The Laphroaig 10 Sherry Oak Finish. My whisky of the year back in 2021, and it is still standing strong nearly three years on. Sweet, savory, smoky and sensational, it genuinely tastes like burnt jam, and it remains my absolute jam.
So, over to you: which Islay dram would you crown king of the peat?
To hear my full thoughts and see my honourable mentions, check out my YouTube video.
Read the full article at The Best Islay Scotch Whisky: My Top 5 Smoky Whisky Picks
