The Big Peat Christmas Edition 2013, 54.9%, £46
I’ve never hidden my love for big peaty whiskies. But this year releases that I thought would set my world on fire failed to deliver, and I found that most of the star performers were from the other end of the whisky spectrum. I was falling in love with gorgeous whiskies from bourbon barrels, laced with tropical fruits and vanilla, and reaching for quirky Aberfeldys and Glen Gariochs. Never was the case made more strongly t 
han in the case of blended whisky, where a procession of peated but bland blends failed...
