three-easy-payments, I always equated peat and smoke as the same thing. Most of the Islay Scotches (maybe not Bunnahabhain) burn peat to dry the malted barley which gives it the smokey flavor (which I like). If there is a peat quality separate from the smoke I was not aware of it. But I might be completely wrong.
Anyway, I got a bottle of Caol Ila 12, one of my favorite smokey Islay’s and it tastes really close to the Lagavulin 16. And, it comes in the exact same bottle with the exact same cork. I’ve heard that the Caol Ila distillery sends most of its stock to other brands. Not sure what the relation between them and Lagavulin might be, if any.
Edit: Both Caol Ila and Lagavulin distilleries are owned by Diageo.