Elements of Islay

Elements of Islay launched in 2008, an independent bottling range dedicated to Scotland's Islay. It came from Speciality Drinks, the London company founded by brothers Sukhinder and Raj Singh, later renamed Elixir Distillers. The idea has never changed. Every release hides its source distillery behind a code. Instead of a distillery name, each bottling carries a two-letter code borrowed from the periodic table, followed by a batch number. The first releases were Ar1, Cl1 and Lp1, and a little guesswork reveals Ardbeg, Caol Ila and Laphroaig behind them. Every whisky is bottled at cask strength, without chill-filtration or added colour, so the peat and salt come through undiluted. In 2016 the range added a permanent blend simply called Peat, mixing spirit from several Islay distilleries into one smoky, no-age-statement dram. It remains the one Elements of Islay bottling that does not hide behind a single-letter code, because it draws from more than one source.