Scarabus Islay Single Malt (2019 Fèis Ìle) / 46%/ 0,7l

Scarabus is the brand of single malt whisky from Hunter Laing & Co. portfolio launched to celebrate the 2019 Fèis Ìle.

The whisky was sourced from undisclosed distillery and bottled at 46% abv. Scarabus is named after an area of farmland in the north of Islay between Bridgend and Ballygrant, on which a distillery (also name Scarabus) operated for just a year (1817-1818). The whisky was available for tasting at the new Hunter Laing’s Ardnahoe Distillery, which opened in April 2019. The distillery is run by Jim McEwan, who previously worked for two other Islay distilleries, Bowmore and Bruichladdich.

Nose: classic Islay malt, peat smoke, seaweed, vanilla, honey, white pepper, allspice, dash of cinnamon and flax seed and touch of tar.

Palate: peat smoke, sea breeze, green olives, seaweed salad, white pepper, vanilla salt, apples, hints of tobacco and oak.

Finish: pretty long and nicely balanced, with notes of peat smoke, cigar ash, vanilla, cinnamon, pepper and oak.