Ardmore 8 Year Old / The Smoking Curse / Whisky of Voodoo Highland Whisky

70cl / 52.8% / Brave New Spirits – A fascinating expression from the Whisky of Voodoo series by Brave New Spirits, this takes the restrained, drier, mainland peat character of Ardmore and sees what happens when first-fill cognac barriques and second-fill Laphroaig barrels are used to impart their own character on it, before vatting together and bottling at 52.8%. The answer is ripe plum, dried orange, aromatic oak, sweet oily smoke and a mineral edge. A spooky transformation we can all get behind.