Smokehead

"Smoke baby, smoke baby

More alcohol baby
Cocaine in Montreal
And back out on the plane baby"

With a cheesy name like smokehead, I wasn't expecting much.  But this was a nice "in between" smoky scotch.  Much more smoky than Bruichladdich 10, but not quite as over the top as Lagavulin.  This is an uncomplicated scotch that is fairly smooth.  

Scotch is an aquired taste, and smoky scotch needs more acquiring!  Some people just don't like it, but others seem to prefer it.  I think it is mood and situation dependant.  I would not want to be stuck on a desert island with only a carton of this, but I do find there is a time and place when the sweet speyside scotches take a backseat to the smoky islay counterparts.  

This Scotch has a bit of a mystery to it.  The distillery behind it is Ian Macleod established in 1933, and claims to be an independent family company.  This scotch is supposed to be from Islay, but some of their other scotches are from the Isle of Skye, and Speyside.  And, there is no Smokehead distillery on Islay.   So if anyone has any insight on this.  Feel free to comment and clarify this enigma.

I am starting to divide scotch into sweet vs smoky, and simple vs complex.  Complex so far tends to have some smoke, such as Laphroiag and Devils Casks.  This is a simple smoky.  With a good balance between sweet, smoke, and salt.  I liked this scotch.  Just not sure what it was!