Scarabus Islay Single Malt (70cl, 46%)

Scarabus is an Islay single malt released by Hunter Laing for the 2019 Fèis Ìle festival, timed with the opening of the Ardnahoe distillery. The distillery that made it is not named, and the label carries golden symbols intended to be deliberately ambiguous. The name comes from an area of Islay, and the design draws on the island-born folklorist John Francis Campbell. It is bottled at 46% in a 70cl bottle, non-chill-filtered and with natural colour. The nose brings salted peat smoke, sea salt, warm leather, rhubarb compote and red berries, with vanilla and oak spice. The palate is soft, with sweet vanilla and red fruit before sea salt and peat smoke. The finish is rich and lingering, warm and smoky, with pronounced pepper.