When I first seen the PR for the new Elements of Islay, the first thing that caught my eye was the Ma1 expression. I was asking myself, what is Ma?! there’s no distillery on Islay that I know that matches this element, right? After doing some reading online, I figured out it was essentially a peated Bunnahabhain. A peated Bunna is nothing really new, there are quite a lot of those going around the OB and IB circles , so why not bottle one too? Pricing wise this is quite a ‘cheap’ expressions when Elements are considered, even though you have to keep in mind this is a wee 0,5 L bottle. Let’s find out more shall we?
Elements of Islay Ma1 , 54.2% , £49.95 [TWE]
Nose: Quite a lot of soot , pepper and earth with spice and zest , not ultra peaty. Damp soil and peat reek with some wood varnish and sweet dough.