Michel Couvreur "Dominos - Kysela Selection" Malt Whisky (700ml)

This is quintessential Couvreur in my opinion. The iconoclastic bottler of Scotch who is not legally allowed to call it Scotch has created this special blend with their long time importer, Fran Kysela. In many ways it feels like they set out to make a more intense version of the peated overage that K&L has sold over the years, but without reduction and at a higher proof you'll need to add quite a bit of old whisky to get down to 100 proof. It's a killer bottle that does more than fill the void left by the absence of the K&L Overage, but adds a new layer to the story. Here we go. The color is a serious tawny (1.4). The oloroso nuttiness is almost overwhelming with deep leather, funky old school sherry, on the aged of showing sulfur but walks it back beautifully. Here not so much smoke on the nose although there is a roasting herbal character and some baked apple. On the palate however this beautiful old Islay character is front and center. Honestly this tastes like old sherried ardbeg to me with this tarry smoke and powerful roasted nut character. Furthering that take there's some savory beefy character but it's balanced by beautiful moscatel sherry sweetness. A drop of water and this stuff explodes in every direction, heightening all previous notes and rounding out the palate. It's just crazy that consumers aren't buying every drop of these special Couvreurs like the legends that they are. There are so few modern whiskies that over so much character and depth and this is so far from industrial production levels it should be considered one of the world's rarest great producers of malt whisky, yet here we are still trying to convince everyone that they're missing out. Don't be the guy calling me 3 months from now asking if we can get more Dominos to drink. We can't!!!