It seems Covid-19 threw a spanner in the works of Elixir Distillers, with a big part of the planned April and May outturns not yet available in most places.
However a few days ago this Margadale Ma3 popped up, a peated Bunnahabhain single malt in the Elements of Islay series, a combination of two casks.
Margadale Ma3 2004 (55,2%, Elements of Islay 2019, two ex-bourbon barrels, 734 btl.)
Nose: quite sweet and nicely peaty. Oranges and pineapple, vanilla cake, a drizzle of honey and sweet lemon. Clean and fresh, with earthy smoke and a hint of wet wool. Ground peppercorns.
Mouth: spicy arrival (pepper, nutmeg) mixing with sweet apples, melons and limoncello. A little vanilla. Salted lemons and macadamia nuts. Deep ashy notes, with the smoke becoming slightly acrid after a while. Aniseed.
Finish: long, with green spices, pine smoke and vanilla cream. A late hint of dark chocolate as well.
Very good. Powerful, straightforward peat mixed with the right amount of sweetness. Decent complexity and given the affordable price this is easy to recommended. Available from The Whisky Exchange for instance.