Tokaji aged whisky?

I was recently pointed to this exciting sounding whisky by someone off of the internet. A 14 year old Islay, aged in Tokaji barrels? Oooh. How can I resist. I almost instantly ordered a bottle. It arrived yesterday.

The first impression you get is the amazing smell, it is incredibly strong and rich. It fills the room with a sweet, heady, smoky aroma which lingered long after I'd finished my glass. You don't really need to drink it. Just sit in the room with a glass of it.

The colour is a really dark amber, like an aged Bourbon. It's really thick and viscous, it makes you want to swirl it around the glass.

On the palate it's very different to a more traditional Islay. It is subtly peaty, smoky and earthy but they are more background flavours, the really rich and sweet dried fruit and apricot flavours of Tokaji dominate. I've had a Glenmorangie before that was aged 15 years, 5 of which were in Sauternes wood and that was much lighter and more subtle. This kind of smashes you in the face with Tokaji flavour, the whisky is a bit more in the background.

It won't be to everyones taste, I read someone else on the interweb saying they hated it and thought the Tokaji flavour totally overpowered the Whisky. I think it's a marriage that works really well, but in many ways it's more like a very good Bourbon than an Islay. For those reasons it's not going to be to everyone's taste.

I wonder if there is any more coming in future years? I hope so. This was limited to 492 bottles.