Few spirits in Scotland are so coveted by the initiated yet so little known to the broader whisky world as the deeply peated malt from the old north shore distillery known in the trade as Staoisha. This is the heavily peated spirit produced at Bunnahabhain, a distillery better known for its typically unpeated Islay style, yet capable of producing some of the island’s most forceful smoky whisky when the stills are turned to peat. The wide, tall stills seem to gather dense smoke around Bunnahabhain’s naturally briny character, creating a spirit that is both intensely maritime and deeply peated. The distillery refers to this style internally as “Moine,” but bulk customers are not permitted to use that name, so independent bottlers reference nearby Loch Staoisha instead. In this case the distillery name appears on the label as well, leaving little mystery about the whisky’s origin. Founded in 1881 on Islay’s remote north coast, Bunnahabhain has long stood apart from its southern neighbors, producing a weighty coastal spirit that often emphasizes malt richness over peat smoke. The raw, powerful distillate here has not been overworked by oak, but after nearly twelve years in barrel it has blossomed into an absurdly complex and forceful expression unlike anything we have previously bottled. The oldest Staoisha we have yet offered, bottled at a natural cask strength of 63.1% alc by vol.