Shelter Point Echoes of the Hebrides

I picked up this bottle at The Strath, an essential liquor store in Victoria BC - this bottling is exclusive to the retailer and The Union Club of BC. A cask-strength single cask, It is distilled (June 2014) from malted BC barley and finished for 11 months in an ex-Islay quarter cask #SF26, yielding only 150 bottles. I purchased the bottle in Feb 2020, though I don't know the bottling year, nor what sort of ask most of the maturation took place in (presumably ex-bourbon).

The colour is a pale gold. On the nose are gentle wafts of peat smoke, quite different from the Smoke Point. Soft vanilla, fresh herbs and croissant - think a bakery with savoury herbal pastries. Water gives it that band-aid note - which is not a bad thing. Lovely and elegant though perhaps a bit too unassuming.

On the palate the power is amped up with a more medicinal profile: sharper peat, with lemon curd, cayenne and Italian parsley. Thin mouthfeel. Grassy. Water really makes a difference though, dialing up the herbs and citrus. Quite delicious!

The finish is smoky, piney, herbal and citrusy. This has a flavour profile that I really like - basically a peated single malt with lots of complexity and character - though like many Shelter Points, I feel like a bit more age would really help here.