What Wee Dram are you enjoying now?

[Megawatt]

Tonight I started on my free bottle of Gibson's Finest Sterling. I was not impressed at first, finding it rather harsh. It has grown on me somewhat, though. It's a bit simple, lots of alcohol evident in the nose, a bit of toffee and spice on the palate. Very short finish. Probably not the best representation of the Gibson's brand, but nevertheless an undemanding anytime whisky which probably mixes well.

Also on the menu tonight: Islay Mist 8 and Aberlour a'bunadh.

[unclebunk]

I see Stu beat me to it. Great minds and all that......

The thirty is in no way close to what the old Laphroaig was, in fact it was a product never planned by Laphroaig. Years ago the distillery sold a number of casks to a private individual who had the contents transferred from the bourbon casks Laphroaig uses into sherry casks. Since Laphroaig didn't do sherry casking his plan was to sell this variant after aging it an appropriate amount of time. Well....he died and the casks sat in limbo for a few years while his heirs decided what to do with them and by this time they were about 27 years old. It was at this point Laphroaig decided to buy them back and offer them as an official release. Since that took a bit of time and a 30 yo release is more impressive than a 28 or 29 yo release Laphroaig held on to them until they reached 30 years. The thirty is unique in its own way and you may never see an old sherry casked Laphroaig again but it in no way resembles the bottlings from the 70's. What you want to buy is the new 25 yo for a glimpse into the past.

I'm inclined to skip the Laphroiag 30 now, as spending $100 for half a bottle is way beyond my budget, especially for something that probably won't knock me out. I think I'd rather spend a little extra and buy another bottle of Quarter Cask and a bottle of Cask Strength. That ought to hold me for a while!

[AVB]

Bushmills Millennium Malt. 24 yo Irish Single Malt made for the turn of the Millennium in 2000.

[Martian]

Ballantine's Finest. This is an excellent and inexpensive blend.

[Jono]

I opened up Black Bottle...my first...and found it a very nice, affordable Islay style blend. Thanks to those on this forum that have spoken highly of it...and White Horse and Famous Grouse.

http://www.blackbottle.com/home.html

When I poured it into the glass it appeared very light in color and I was wondering if it would have the Islay character as promised. I was not disappointed...it turned out to be a very respectable peaty smoke blend.

[Megawatt]

I opened up Black Bottle...my first...and found it a very nice, affordable Islay style blend. Thanks to those on this forum that have spoken highly of it...and White Horse and Famous Grouse.

http://www.blackbottle.com/home.html

When I poured it into the glass it appeared very light in color and I was wondering if it would have the Islay character as promised. I was not disappointed...it turned out to be a very respectable peaty smoke blend.

Just curious; why would light colour indicate anything about the peat level?

[Jono]

Light color in my experience is often associated with lighter taste, as with Irish and Canadian and some lowland or Speyside scotches...and since Black Bottle is a blend and the grain spirit component could have reduced the peat flavor elements (I fully expected peat coming from Islay malts) but it didn't. Looking at several clear bottle Scotches I see some differences in color...Highland Park 12 is darker with a slight orange/red cast, Scapa 12 similar, then Glenkinchie 10 a little less dark then Glengoyne 10 dark gold finally to Talisker 10 with a light golden color. Talisker of course is loaded with peat. Time in the barrel is clearly the main color factor. White Horse was in the middle and darker than Black Bottle.
So to your point, don't assume a light color equates with a thinner taste profile. I agree that the amount of peat element impact cannot be determined by the color alone.

Talisker - take away the peat flavor and the base whiskey is probably fairly light. Obviously a sherried scotch such as Macallan or Arberlour have darker color from the barrel.

Here is a good resource: http://www2.gol.com/users/jmackin/docs/Scotch.htm

[Megawatt]

Light color in my experience is often associated with lighter taste, as with Irish and Canadian and some lowland or Speyside scotches...and since Black Bottle is a blend and the grain spirit component could have reduced the peat flavor elements (I fully expected peat coming from Islay malts) but it didn't. Looking at several clear bottle Scotches I see some differences in color...Highland Park 12 is darker with a slight orange/red cast, Scapa 12 similar, then Glenkinchie 10 a little less dark then Glengoyne 10 dark gold finally to Talisker 10 with a light golden color. Talisker of course is loaded with peat. Time in the barrel is clearly the main color factor. White Horse was in the middle and darker than Black Bottle.
So to your point, don't assume a light color equates with a thinner taste profile. I agree that the amount of peat element impact cannot be determined by the color alone.

Talisker - take away the peat flavor and the base whiskey is probably fairly light. Obviously a sherried scotch such as Macallan or Arberlour have darker color from the barrel.

Here is a good resource: http://www2.gol.com/users/jmackin/docs/Scotch.htm

The problem is that colour is usually more a product of artificial additives and not barrel influence. Most of the Scotches you named, and also most other whiskies (bourbon excepted), have colour added, at least to my knowledge. Highland Park is an exception. A lot of the "full gold" coloured whiskies in that link would probably be closer to "white wine" without added colour.

Case in point: one of the peatiest whiskies I've ever tried is Lagavulin 12 cask strength, which also happens to be the lightest-coloured whisky I've tried. It is much lighter than the Glenkinchie I am drinking right now, even though they are the same age and use the same type of casks (refill bourbon). I think whisky drinkers would do well to largely ignore the colour of a whisky unless you have it on good information that the distiller does not add any colour.

[JamesW]

Just cracked my Laphroaig Quarter Cask after having taken a long break from scotch...too long. The nose on this puppy brought me right back, just relaxed my shoulders and made me think "ahhh, yeah, that's what I miss". lIt has a light complexion with lots of peat and smoke and honeyed marshlands in the nose. The taste is fantastic, sweet around the edges, with a medium-long finish of peat & smoke, very true to its nose. Very, very pleasant. Love the 96 proof too, perfect balance.

Man I've really missed the Islays.

[TomH]

Attended a vertical tasting of Laphroaig this week. It was my first time to taste the 30 YO and it showed me a new dimension of complexity that reminded me what draws me to scotch. This is definitely my favorite Islay (no one ever accused me of having cheap tastes). I would have the say the 15 YO was my next favorite (I definitely prefered it to the 18YO) and for the $$ the best value of the night.

Tom