Mac-Talla Strata 15 Year Old

Mac-Talla Strata is a new secret Islay single malt scotch whisky with a rocky title, from an unnamed distillery. It is made by the Morrison family, one of Scotland's oldest whisky families with generations of knowledge in the industry.

Mac-Talla means 'echo' in Scottish Gaelic and reflects the tastes of Islay. 'Strata' as the plural of 'stratum', refers to the many igneous rock formations that are visible along Islay’s rugged but breath-taking shores.

Of course peat has become synonymous with Islay whisky, and Mac-Talla 'Strata' is a great example of the island's smoky style, softened by a fairly lengthy maturation. Aged for 15 years, this is the oldest of the Mac-Talla range and that investment in time has created a rich, complex, but balanced flavour.

It's probably Bowmore, given the Morrison family's connections with the distillery, but in a style rarely encountered nowadays. Sweet and complex opening sniffs develop with brine, white pepper, wet rocks and sea shore combined with a twist of grapefruit. Just wonderfully fresh, sweet and salty. A silky entry leads into a full, rounded and salivating middle. Peppers gently tease the tongue as earthy peat vies with maritime peat, only matched by the richness of the malt. Fabulously pure, mineral and fine, managing to flood every crevice of the mouth effortlessly at 46%. It ends long, fresh and fizzing with complexity.

Prototypical Islay that tastes older than the label states. American oak matured. Non-chill filtered.