If you can order from Schneider's on Capitol Hill (www.cellar.com), it's only $60.
I had my first pour of Redbreast 12 cask strength, and had I been wearing socks, they would have been knocked off. I'm already a little sad that this bottle is going to be eventually empty and I've just started it. I'd put this up with the best whiskeys I've had, be it bourbon, rye, scotch, or irish. Its creamy, then fruity, then lightly oaky - and all as clean and crisp as an Irish priest's collar on Sunday morning.
Had some Ardbeg Alligator last night - wonderful drifting back to my aqua vitae home of Islay after a long week
¡Geaux Tigers! - ¡Visca el Barça!
Dalmore Cigar Malt and a Laphroaig 1/4 Cask while the wife was at a baby shower,odd combination but quite rewarding.
glenmorangie and laphroig triple wood!
To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
Laphroaig 18. This definitely is the most bourbon-friendly Islay scotch. It's plenty sooty and ashy, which is different from smoky and is compatible with barrel char, and it has a nice sweet bourbon barrel influence. Gone is the coconut and most of the iodine of the regular 10 year. I like Laphroaigs the least of the big 3 - Lagavulin and Ardbeg are the others I count - but this one is my favorite from the distillery and a repeat purchase. I think of it as a "foody" scotch. I like that Islays remind me of environments instead of edibles, while bourbons always remind me of food, so I was surprised that this fairly approachable whisky, so reminiscent of smokey food dishs, hit me the right way.
Aberlour 12-year. It's like getting the Balvenie 12-year Signature, for $25 less. Ample bourbon and sherry notes, with a hearty, healthy, voluptuous body. I don't really care much for Glenlivet, its sister distillery-- but this one is a real "sleeper!"
"Suppose he's got a pointed stick!?!"
- Eric Idle, Monty Python's Flying Circus