[jsaliga]

Yes, malty sweetness, oak, honey, and smoke all in perfect balance.  Great stuff!

You don't need to convince me.  I'm a big fan of Highland Park.



--Jerome

[jsaliga]

The Laphroaig is a bit much for me. Could not drink more then on. Had to switch back to Burbon tonight.
Need to try a less or no smoke scotch next.

I sincerely hope you don't give up on it.  By all means don't force yourself to drink a whisky that isn't to your liking.  However, you might be able to use it to blend with other single malts that might benefit from a few drops of peaty whisky.  The Dalmore 12 Year Old distillery bottling doesn't do much for me, but it's quite nice with about a teaspoon of Laphroaig CS in it. 



--Jerome

[Tyson]

For something halfway between Laphroaig and Ardbed, Lagavulin is a good choice.  It's a peaty scotch too, but has been aged in sherry barrels, so has more complexity and a richer overall flavor.

[sts9fan]

In don't give up that easy...

[jsaliga]

For something halfway between Laphroaig and Ardbed, Lagavulin is a good choice.  It's a peaty scotch too, but has been aged in sherry barrels, so has more complexity and a richer overall flavor.

I agree.  And to my taste buds Lagavullin Distiller's Edition is one the best distillerly bottlings of any single malt I have ever tasted.  I love what the PX finish does to their whisky.  The bad news is that prices for it have climbed to about $115 for a bottle.  Several months ago I found 4 bottles of the 1991 for $90 each, so I snapped them up.

--Jerome

[Tyson]

Definitely, a big step up over the regular distiller's bottling, and the regular bottling ain't bad!  I've tried the Distiller's Editions for a few other single malts and was always underwhelmed, so much so that I almost passed on the Lagavulin DE I found for $80 a while back.  Glad I decided to give it one more try!

[jsaliga]

Talisker, along with Highland Park, Pulteney, Bladnoch, and Lagavulin are my favorite distilleries in Scotland.  One of my favorite single malts is Talisker 25 Year Old 2005 release.  But the 18 Year Old is a great whisky too.  I can get lost for hours just nosing the aromas in a dram of Talisker 18 Year Old.  Sadly, Diageo raised the price of Talisker across the board: the 18 Year Old increased in price by a staggering 60%, from $89 list to $149 list.  I had two bottles of the 18 Year Old on hand when the price increase hit, and I was fortunate enough to find another bottle at a local store at the old price so I took it.  These will probably be the last bottles of Talisker 18 Year Old I will ever enjoy, because I refuse to pay the obscene price of $149.  But such is the trend in the whisky market -- prices are going up and up, and will not recover until the growth bubble bursts.

Even more disturbing is that Diageo decided to reduce the strength of the Talisker 25 and 30 year olds from cask strength to 45.8% ABV.  They also raised the price to $269 list for the 25 Year Old and $429 for the 30 Year Old.  Fortunately for me, I was able to by 6 bottles of the 25 Year Old 2005 release, bottled at 57.2% ABV for $120/bottle.  I don't have the 30 Year Old but would love to try it...though not at current prices and not reduced to 45.8% ABV.

--Jerome

[Tyson]

OK, check out the first post in this thread, all my tasting notes are back!  24 pages worth of tasting notes done over several years.  Check it out if you haven't already seen it!

[sts9fan]

Got a bottle of The Dalmore 12. I like it better. I have not tried it blended yet. So far I still think I like Burbon better. We shall see.

[reith]

I have an employee who recently discovered that he likes Scotch, thanks to me. As a reward for closing a major deal, I just sent him a 25 year old Springbank.

[CSJ]

21 YR Spring Bank, last bottle. This is my very favorite bottle of Spring Bank. If I had to pick one distillery to drink it would be Spring Bank.




PC10 - my next bottle to open, usually not a fan of this style but this stuff rocks

[asliarun]

I tried Redbreast 12 the other day, and while I do not have a very refined palate, I could see this was a special whiskey. The finish is buttery smooth and to me.. That stands out more than anything. Just for the finish, you feel like having one more. It is of course not peaty at all.. But I did think it had a fair amount of flavor.

[mlundy57]

Been awhile for this thread but here's one to try





Very distinctive flavor, granted I haven't tried very many single malts but this is my current favorite

Mike

[BRN]

I’ve been on this forum since 2005 and don’t know how I missed this thread. Tyson I have only had a handful of Scotches, but from your descriptions of all the different Scotches in the first post your impressions are very similar to mine. I now have a list to work through.

Thank you,
Brad

[AvFan]

This is an awesome thread and I'm so glad it popped up!  To be honest, I hardly drink whiskey/whisky but I'm spending two weeks in Scotland this summer and I'm just getting started with my training.  Based on my son's recommendation, first up is...Oban 14.  I'm on a very steep learning curve but I have to do my best so I know just how good the Scotch is at the source.  We are staying on the Isle of Skye for 3 days and we'd already decided to visit Talisker so maybe that should be next on my training list. 

What should I try after Oban and Talisker?  Our other stops include Glencoe, Inverness, Stirling and Edinburgh plus one night in Oban.  The area east of Inverness has so many distilleries! 

Lastly, what do you think the Scots will say or do if I add water (3:1) to their Scotch whisky?  My first thought is:   I'm not sure I want to find out!

[Jon L]

I’ve been on this forum since 2005 and don’t know how I missed this thread.

I can't believe I missed this entire thread, either 

What I really can't believe (don't want to believe) is how much Scotch prices have skyrocketed in last few years 

[PeteG]

I can't believe I missed this entire thread, either 

What I really can't believe (don't want to believe) is how much Scotch prices have skyrocketed in last few years 

Its crazy how the prices has gone up and if it gets popular it really goes up.

[PeteG]

Since the thread has come back to life, maybe we can post some of our favorites again. I do know from year to year you have deviations from very little to a whole lot. These scotch gift packs are cool, not much money and you get three good samples. Its unbelievable how many whiskey distilleries are in the US now.

https://www.malts.com/en-us/whisky-gift-guide/gift-packs/

[Jon L]

It took some work to find one in California but worth it. 

0605191629 by drjlo2, on Flickr

[dflee]

Need some advice from y'all since I don't drink scotch.
One of my clients states he loves good Scotch. Got him an
expensive bottle last year and he tells me later that he has it in the freezer
chilling. Found out he gave it to his partner cause he thought it was crap.
Can't remember the name but it has the deer head on it and cost me just
over a hundred bucks. Based on what I just stated what would be a decent
Scotch for somebody like this?

Thanks guys
Don