Born On Islay (Wilson and Morgan) Review

Country: Scotland

Region: Islay

Brand: Born on Islay 
Bottled by: Wilson & Morgan, Edinburgh, Scotland

Type: Single Malt

Age: 8 Years

ABV: 43%

This dram is sold in the Netherlands by Van Zuylen, a very competent wine - and spirits merchant in Loosduinen (The Hague) in the Netherlands. This Single Malt was bottled by Wilson & Morgan of Edinburgh. This particular batch comes from casks no. 6256-6262. This batch was distilled in May 2003 and bottled in September 2011. I will not only taste this whisky but I will also try to determine the Distillery where this batch was produced. Starting at the nose I will do so via the process of elimination. For good order's sake, the isle of Islay is home to the following distilleries, listed in alphabetical order: Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Kilchoman, Lagavulin and Laphroaig.

Which Distillery is it??

Colour: Light Amber

Nose: Lovely mellow Peat (Smoke). Only slightly Medicinal so I will rule out Laproaig right now. This dram needs a bit of time to open up. After a while I get Leather, Ashes, Oak, Sultanas, and Tea with Lemon. I don't get a lot of Sweet components and that leads me to believe that this is not a Bowmore. By the way, I am not yet familiar with the whiskies distilled by Kilchoman but it's a rather young distillery and I don't think this distillery would be chosen as a House Islay Malt, at least not for the time being. I will also rule out Ardbeg and Lagavulin at this point because I know their resp. 10 and 16 years expressions very well. Both of them have quite strong Peat on the Nose and that's not the case here. I'm nosing this dram for about half an hour now but I'm not getting anything else except some hints of Citrus Peel and Butter. It's an agreeable Nose but not very complex.

Taste: The Medicinal notes are a bit stronger now. There's the Peat of course as well as Black Pepper, Herbs, Nuts, Malt and Licorice. I've tasted the Bunnahabhain 10 years old and I remember lots of Vanilla on the Palate. That's not the case with this dram so I think I can probably rule out Bunnahabhain.

Finish: Middle-Long with Peat, Burnt Grass, Smoked Bacon from the Black Forest (Scharzwalder Schinken), Black Pepper and Caramel. The Smoked Black Forest Bacon earns the Finish half a point extra as it is my favourite Bacon!

I added a few drops of Water but won't do that again. It just waters the dram down. My clear advice is to sip this dram neat.

Rating: 84.5

Nose: 21 - Taste: 21- Finish: 21.5- Overall: 21

Drinking Experience: Good

Conclusion: If you like a bit of gentle Peat in your dram and do not care so much for Sherry influences, the Born On Islay Malt might be an interesting day-to-day alternative. Personally I just love the combination of heavy Peat, Maritime Notes, Leather, Barbecue, Seaweed, Salt and...Sherry. To wrap things up, this Single Malt is an agreeable - but not very complex Islay. And now the 1 million Dollar question! So far I have eliminated 6 of the 8 Islay distilleries and I'm quite confident that this dram is either a Bruichladdich or a Caol Ila. Unfortunately I'm not yet very familiar with these two distilleries. But expressions with names as Rocks, Waves and Peat suggest that the whiskies from Bruichladdich might be heavily peated. Therefore it's my guess that this Single Malt is most likely a Caol Ila! If I'm correct I'm gonna play in the lottery again!!!!! 

Jan van den Ende                                                            November 27, 2012