RT Fan Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Someone gave me a Glenmorangie sampler pack a few years back and given the weather i thought it was high time it went. My first taste of the Nectar D'or expression, very nice & smooth, a much milder Glenmorangie than the Quinta Ruban, (Old Portwood Finish) variety which is my favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I'm continuing on my quest to drink a bottle of RB12 this week. I had no intentions of doing this, but its just so darn drinkable. From the looks of the bottle, it appears to be going rather well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I'm continuing on my quest to drink a bottle of RB12 this week. I had no intentions of doing this, but its just so darn drinkable. From the looks of the bottle, it appears to be going rather well. OK Paddy, here's the deal...I'll cover whatever you don't get to, with what I take out of my bottle this week. Sound good? I'll just tell ya, you ain't got much to go......actually, it's probably "mission accomplished".... Great whiskey, ain't it?!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 OK Paddy, here's the deal...I'll cover whatever you don't get to, with what I take out of my bottle this week. Sound good? I'll just tell ya, you ain't got much to go......actually, it's probably "mission accomplished".... Great whiskey, ain't it?!?! Its a deal Joe! And yes....that is some mighty fine drinkin' whiskey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auracom Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Just loving Springbank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronWF Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Just loving Springbank.[ATTACH]17995[/ATTACH]Ya Mon! The only Springer I have open now is a Longrow 18, and it's probably my slowest drinker right now. With Springbank, I either stretch it out or it's gone in 3 weeks or less. Cult distillery that has been awesomely accessible around here, though they've definitely raised prices over the last couple years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portwood Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 (edited) Cult distillery that has been awesomely accessible around here, though they've definitely raised prices over the last couple years.Springbank is one one my favs.The pricing tends to be on the high side due to:- small* and more labor intensive production than most other distilleries- limited distribution channels.*Reports suggest that, although full capacity is much, much higher than that, they are actually producing only ~100,000 L/yr. To put that into perspective, Kilchoman is producing 40% more than that on an annual basis! Edited March 21, 2014 by portwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theglobalguy Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 First peated Scotch, Longrow Campbeltown NAS. The peat didn't startle me as much as I expected. Let it sit for 15 min, few drops of water and found it to be smoky but light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 First peated Scotch, Longrow Campbeltown NAS. The peat didn't startle me as much as I expected. Let it sit for 15 min, few drops of water and found it to be smoky but light.Congrats on taking the peat plunge. FWIW, peat influence tends to diminish as whiskies age, so if you like the younger NAS stuff, you'd probably enjoy the older stuff as well. Just be careful about jumping straight from Longrow to the infamous Islay peat monsters like Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Lagavulin, or Caol Ila straight away (or try them at a bar/friends house first). Peat influence varies greatly by geographic region, and the peat notes you might come to appreciate in Longrow may be masked or completely absent in an Islay or even a heavily peated Speysider. If you do choose to continue your peated whisky journey, I'd suggest looking into Ardmore, Bunnahabhain, or Bruichladdich's standard bottlings (Laddie 10, 16, etc.) first. And for all that is holy, please try Connemara (peated Irish whiskey) prior to buying an entire bottle of it, like this idiot did.Oddly enough, the heavily peated Islays were the first scotch whiskies that I really loved, and I went directly to completely unpeated expressions from there. It's actually the very lightly peated expressions that I'm just coming to enjoy alongside their unpeated and heavily peated brethren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorgemu1 Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Just found a Springbank 15 myself. I think it's an older version. The box is completely enclosed unlike the current offerings which have the see through window if I'm not mistaken. Big fan of the Islay malts. Just had a tasting with some folks with the Ardbegs I had on hand - Oogie, Corry, and Ardbog. Each one is exceptional in it's own right. Also threw in a Laddie 10 as well. I've got a couple of more Islay malts waiting in the wings - Lagavulin 12, 16, and PC10 are waiting in the wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnDew Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Just found a Springbank 15 myself. I think it's an older version. The box is completely enclosed unlike the current offerings which have the see through window if I'm not mistaken. Big fan of the Islay malts. Just had a tasting with some folks with the Ardbegs I had on hand - Oogie, Corry, and Ardbog. Each one is exceptional in it's own right. Also threw in a Laddie 10 as well. I've got a couple of more Islay malts waiting in the wings - Lagavulin 12, 16, and PC10 are waiting in the wings.I think the window ones are just the "special releases" like the Calvados cask. The regular 10's and 15's come in enclosed boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portwood Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Just be careful about jumping straight from Longrow to the infamous Islay peat monsters like Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Lagavulin, or Caol Ila straight away (or try them at a bar/friends house first). ... If you do choose to continue your peated whisky journey, I'd suggest looking into Ardmore, Bunnahabhain, or Bruichladdich's standard bottlings (Laddie 10, 16, etc.) first.Coal Ila is not in the same peat/smoke class as the big three (LAL), so it may actually be a good next step after Longrow.While Armore is a good next choice, Bunna and standard Laddies are virtually unpeated*, so they would actually be a step backwards from Longrow.Other good choices for peat/smoke to follow Longrow would be: Talisker, Benriach (though not all of them are strongly peated), and Bowmore (also from Islay but lower peat levels similar to Caol Ila), *the strongly peated whiskies from Bruichladdich are branded Port Charlotte (similar level to Longrow) and Octomore (much higher peat/smoke along the lines of LAL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChainWhip Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Highland Park is also peated but it's a different sort of peat - it's worth exploring as HP's are typically well balanced.+1 vote for Talisker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theglobalguy Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Coal Ila is not in the same peat/smoke class as the big three (LAL), so it may actually be a good next step after Longrow.While Armore is a good next choice, Bunna and standard Laddies are virtually unpeated*, so they would actually be a step backwards from Longrow.Other good choices for peat/smoke to follow Longrow would be: Talisker, Benriach (though not all of them are strongly peated), and Bowmore (also from Islay but lower peat levels similar to Caol Ila), *the strongly peated whiskies from Bruichladdich are branded Port Charlotte (similar level to Longrow) and Octomore (much higher peat/smoke along the lines of LAL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berto Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Cracked Laphroaig Cairdeas Portwood tonight. Tasty stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveOfAtl Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 · Hidden Hidden Thanks for the guidance guys, Talisker is both available and cost competitive in my local shops, so that may be my next step.I had a bottle of Corsair Triple Smoke, loved the smoky finish, so I wasn't completely unprepared.If no one else has mentioned it, I highly recommend Talisker. The peat is more subtle than the "big 3" and is quite well integrated. The standard 10 year is a great whisky, as are the 18 year, Distillers editions and the Storm. Link to comment
BigRich Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Cheating on my annual March Irish binge with some Great Kings Street before getting the grill fired up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRich Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Back with the program with a little Bushmills 16Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Back with the program with a little Bushmills 16Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkThat's a program that I can support. Quite possible my favorite Irish out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRich Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 That's a program that I can support. Quite possible my favorite Irish out there.It's a funny one for me. I've gone through many rounds with the 16 over the years. Sometimes I love and sometimes it's just okay. Very much a mood dram for me. Yesterday it was really working!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Coal Ila is not in the same peat/smoke class as the big three (LAL), so it may actually be a good next step after Longrow.While Armore is a good next choice, Bunna and standard Laddies are virtually unpeated*, so they would actually be a step backwards from Longrow.Other good choices for peat/smoke to follow Longrow would be: Talisker, Benriach (though not all of them are strongly peated), and Bowmore (also from Islay but lower peat levels similar to Caol Ila), *the strongly peated whiskies from Bruichladdich are branded Port Charlotte (similar level to Longrow) and Octomore (much higher peat/smoke along the lines of LAL)FWIW, Caol Ila is produced from malt that is peated to 35PPM, same as Lagavulin. The recent bottling of Caol Ila 12 that I have open right now is up there with Ardbeg and Laphroaig's 10 yr bottlings, which is why I included it with them. I thought perhaps they had started using more ex-Islay barrels for aging to up peat leavels in the finished product. Longrow is actually peated to as high or higher a level than any of the standard Islay bottlings (55ppm), but peat character varies widely by region, and the Springbank folks do not use Port Ellen Maltings barley (they use peat cut directly from Campbelltown according to their website). Which is why I recommended the lower peated expressions of Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain for the peat faint of heart, as they give you a small taste of Islay peat without some of the gnarlier flavors that sometimes put people off. They are both at least partially aged in casks that previously held peated whisky, and will pick up some extra character from that, as well as some peat influence from the still itself, depending on how long its been since they ran a heavily peated expression through. Normally I would recommend anyone who can handle Longrow roll right into Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Caol Ila, or Ardbeg, but I don't want to waste anyone's money if they are still hesitant. Whisk(e)y is an expensive hobby, after all . . . At any rate, no point bickering about it, as I don't think anyone would go far wrong with any of the expressions recommended in the last page or so, and absolutely agree that Highland Park and Talisker are outstanding low-medium peat expressions. If anyone wants to branch out of Scotch whisky territory, Nikka's Yoichi distillery has a somewhat similar low-medium peat character to Highland Park. The 10 and 15 year expressions are a little expensive, but 100% worth the money for the overall quality of the dram.Anyway, just got back from an extremely stressful week of dealing with more bad news for my family, so I will probably be enjoying a few different expressions of peated whisky myself tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronWF Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 If anyone wants to branch out of Scotch whisky territory, Nikka's Yoichi distillery has a somewhat similar low-medium peat character to Highland Park.Speaking of Japanese, Hakushu is a nicely peated whisky that compares well to Longrow. It's sweeter with a pear Jolly Rancher thing going on and not as earthy, but it's a nice one to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisg Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Enjoying some Talisker 10 tonight.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Caol Ila 12. This bottle isn't lasting as long as I hoped for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Aberlour A'bunadh batch 45. Amazing sherried malt. Torn between acquiring another of these in the latest batch and trying Glenfarclas 105. So torn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts