jvd99 Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Opened Ardbeg Supernova (2014) last night and it was great. Think Ardbeg 10 ramped up on all levels. The high ABV really makes this one a powerful dram. Enjoyed neat as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t44tq Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Doing a high-end tasting today:Glenlivet 25Auchentoshan 21Taketsuru 17Bunnahabbain 25Bowmore 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronWF Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Aaron, I live around Chicago, we need to become friends!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisg Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Indeed! I have almost 70 bottles of whisky, whiskey and mezcal open (and a few brandies). I need help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronWF Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Opened Ardbeg Supernova (2014) last night and it was great. Think Ardbeg 10 ramped up on all levels. The high ABV really makes this one a powerful dram. Enjoyed neat as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronWF Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I'll be over later tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 · Hidden Hidden Opened my bottle of RHF for Thirsty Thursday at work. Really engaging bourbon, though it misses some apple pie notes I'm getting from my store select Blanton's. Overall, it's my favorite MB2 bourbon so far. Reminds me of a more intense and rye forward Eagle Rare, back when ER was tasting a little better to me, anyway.At any rate, prototypical bourbon. Will be keeping it around from now on. Link to comment
jvd99 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 I threw back a few Ardbegs the other night: SN2014, Alligator and Day. I don't want to rain on your parade, but SN2014 really suffered compared to the other two. The Day is marvelous stuff and tasting the three of them back to back, it becomes clear that it has a good deal of older whisky in it. These are my second bottles of Alligator and Day and I'm enjoying the Alligator less and the Day more than I remember enjoying them years ago. Alligator is very unique, with a grilled juiciness to it, but it is still quite 'spirity.' The SN2014 comes off to me as spirity with a muscled sweetness. I was kind of neutral on it before putting it up against the other two, but now that I've made the comparison, there's just no denying it any more... I'm not an Ardbeg nor Islay aficionado. I bought a bunch of Ardbeg 10's bottled in the early 2000's and generally have had one open continuously as a change-up from Speysiders and Cambletowns which I drink the most. (I have a few other Ardbeg limiteds that are unopened like Alligator, Gallileo, Ardbog). I'm getting into Islays more and more, and that's why I dropped the hint that I'd like the SN2014 for Christmas. Since my exposure is limited, I found that I liked the SN because it was a more powerful dram, but I would love to do some sbs with other Islays to compare. My wallet is going to revolt if I get into Islays too much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvd99 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 On another note, my sister is visiting from London and last night we opened another Christmas present, the Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask. Wow - this stuff is dark as coffee, syrupy and a serious sherry bomb. It has a powerful nose with a lot of raisins. Very good stuff that reminds me of MacCS. The Nikka From the Barrel we tasted after that seemed like water, probably should have gone Nikka first. Lastly, we had a few sips of the SN2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 My wallet is going to revolt if I get into Islays too much This is the exact reason I've been putting older Caol Ilas away. Everything else is so expensive that I can't afford it, let alone find it.Thankfully, many of the standard (MOSTLY age stated) Islay bottlings are great. I could be happy drinking Caol Ila 12, Laphroaig 10/18/QC, Lagavulin 12/16, Ardbeg 10/Corryvreckan, etc for a long time to come. If Kilchoman and Bruichladdich/Port Charlotte start bottling more mature age stated stuff regularly, I'll be a very happy camper. I'll also be venturing into Bunnahabhain soon, and I'm fairly confident I will love the 12 enough to splurge on an 18. Bowmore . . . just doesn't seem like we are going to be good friends for the time being. I also think that we are within 5-10 years of a scotch glut, so maybe prices will fall a bit then, or at least fail to keep up with inflation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvd99 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 The problem is I like pretty much everything, which is not financially conducive to collection or drinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvd99 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 OK - I'm on a roll here - opened a Springbank 18 and did sbs with the 15 (Old Label), both are fantastic but the 18 was a little more refined with all the Springbank flavors I like. Also opened another Christmas bottle, the 19 year Binny's Mortlach. It had a nose of burnt raisins and reminded me somewhat of the Kavalan I had the night before. I nosed both bottles and the Kavalan had a better nose with the raisins and sherry coming through. The Mortlach did not taste at all like the nose - it had a very creamy flavor and had a lot of vanilla on the pallet (this was aged in oak casks). Its a pretty good dram, but I'll have to revisit after some air time to make a final decision on whether its something I'd like to purchase for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Oban 14 for a nightcap. Some air has done this a lot of good. Canned peaches, dried stone fruits, some raisins, sea salt, and a bit of earthy peat at the end. Definitely needed some air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t44tq Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 This is the exact reason I've been putting older Caol Ilas away. Everything else is so expensive that I can't afford it, let alone find it.Thankfully, many of the standard (MOSTLY age stated) Islay bottlings are great. I could be happy drinking Caol Ila 12, Laphroaig 10/18/QC, Lagavulin 12/16, Ardbeg 10/Corryvreckan, etc for a long time to come. If Kilchoman and Bruichladdich/Port Charlotte start bottling more mature age stated stuff regularly, I'll be a very happy camper. I'll also be venturing into Bunnahabhain soon, and I'm fairly confident I will love the 12 enough to splurge on an 18. Bowmore . . . just doesn't seem like we are going to be good friends for the time being. I also think that we are within 5-10 years of a scotch glut, so maybe prices will fall a bit then, or at least fail to keep up with inflation.Eric,Not to make things worse, but Bowmore 25 is impressively good stuff. I don't like young Bowmore, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Eric,Not to make things worse, but Bowmore 25 is impressively good stuff. I don't like young Bowmore, though.I hear Bowmore ages well. I've only had Tempest batch 2, and it smelled like flowers and tasted like cologne and parma violets. I may try older Bowmore at a bar or tasting, but it will take serious sea change for me to buy any bottle of Bowmore blind, as I will with most distilleries of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) Four drams of Laphroaig at a whisky tasting and dinner organized for the Friends of Laphroaig in Toronto, preceded by two cocktails made with the famous Islay whisky. One was essentially a Rob Roy (red vermouth and Laphroaig 10) that worked really well, the smoke mingling with the sweet vermouth. The four Laphroaig were 10 year old, Quarter Barrel, 18 year old and 25 year old. It was preceded by a learned historical and business presentation by the brand ambassador who surely must be amongst the best of his clan, witty, a good singer and replete with knowledge. I liked the 10, 18 and 25 a lot, the Quarter Cask showed its youth more with some younger spirit notes mingling with the most assertive peat punch of the lot. The 10 was full-flavoured but the 18 had the best balance I thought. The 25 was light and ethereal, dancing on the tongue with a tannic note in the finish to show the long age. The ambassador said the 18 had no sherry barrels but nonetheless it had a pleasant fruity note, probably from estery development. The 25 was a mix of sherry and bourbon barrel whisky, some older than 25 years. Only single malt can grow to such great age yet seem light and elegant due to the smaller effect of the reused barrels than for bourbon and someone mentioned the distillery takes special care to ensure the barrels for the old expressions are used many times to permit the spirit not to get over-woody. A fine evening which renewed acquaintance with one of the world's great malts.Gary Edited January 21, 2015 by Gillman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 The four Laphroaig were 10 year old, Quarter Barrel, 18 year old and 25 year old. It was preceded by a learned historical and business presentation by the brand ambassador who surely must be amongst the best of his clan, witty, a good singer and replete with knowledge. I liked the 10, 18 and 25 a lot, the Quarter Cask showed its youth more with some younger spirit notes mingling with the most assertive peat punch of the lot. GarySo what, if anything, did this jovial brand ambassador say about the youthfulness of the Quarter Cask? This is something I find to be a recurrent theme amongst these newer NAS bottles that generally try to disguise younger whiskey with some other element. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) So what, if anything, did this jovial brand ambassador say about the youthfulness of the Quarter Cask? This is something I find to be a recurrent theme amongst these newer NAS bottles that generally try to disguise younger whiskey with some other element.The last time I tried Laphroaig QC, I thought it tasted really good on the rocks, fairly good neat. Definitely gave me a very clear understanding of "medicinal". Noticeably young, though. I was gifted another bottle awhile ago. Maybe I'll open that and give it a try once my daughter decides to start sleeping for more than an hour and a half at a time.Edit: This was a few years ago when I drank scotch on the rocks fairly often. I might try it again with this, since I didn't pay for the bottle. Edited January 21, 2015 by garbanzobean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 So what, if anything, did this jovial brand ambassador say about the youthfulness of the Quarter Cask? This is something I find to be a recurrent theme amongst these newer NAS bottles that generally try to disguise younger whiskey with some other element.He did mention age, I think around 5 years old (I'd guess 5 with some older added for the profile). No secret that it is younger stuff than the 10. Of course the 10 is about $80 and the other $65 (in Ontario), so fair ball. A quarter-cask is a quarter size to a sherry cask, not a quarter of a bourbon barrel, so it's actually a reasonably large container, more than half of a bourbon barrel I think. I'd like to try whiskey aged 10 years in that vs. the regular 10, I think that would be very interesting. I bought the quarter cask after it first came out 10 years ago or so, and didn't re-purchase - just not my particular taste - but the 10 and 18 were tops, IMO.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 The QC is actually more expensive than the 10 where I live, so its not something I'd buy for myself. And I have to say . . . Canadian prices are terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 He did mention age, I think around 5 years old (I'd guess 5 with some older added for the profile). No secret that it is younger stuff than the 10. Of course the 10 is about $80 and the other $65 (in Ontario), so fair ball. A quarter-cask is a quarter size to a sherry cask, not a quarter of a bourbon barrel, so it's actually a reasonably large container, more than half of a bourbon barrel I think. I'd like to try whiskey aged 10 years in that vs. the regular 10, I think that would be very interesting. I bought the quarter cask after it first came out 10 years ago or so, and didn't re-purchase - just not my particular taste - but the 10 and 18 were tops, IMO.GaryBest bet might be the Springbank and Longrow "Rundlets and Kilderkins" bottlings if you can still find them. Both are 10yo whisky aged entirely (I think) in small barrels of around 60-80 liters (around 15-20 gallons I think). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryT Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Poor bourbon selection at the watering hole meant a short trip to the dark side - where Laphroaig 10 always does so well (although the goofy gal behind the bar had no idea what bottle I was asking for - almost had to hop over the bar to grab it myself! Apparently doesn't get a lot of love in Miami!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclebunk Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Four drams of Laphroaig at a whisky tasting and dinner organized for the Friends of Laphroaig in Toronto, preceded by two cocktails made with the famous Islay whisky. One was essentially a Rob Roy (red vermouth and Laphroaig 10) that worked really well, the smoke mingling with the sweet vermouth. The four Laphroaig were 10 year old, Quarter Barrel, 18 year old and 25 year old. It was preceded by a learned historical and business presentation by the brand ambassador who surely must be amongst the best of his clan, witty, a good singer and replete with knowledge. I liked the 10, 18 and 25 a lot, the Quarter Cask showed its youth more with some younger spirit notes mingling with the most assertive peat punch of the lot. The 10 was full-flavoured but the 18 had the best balance I thought. The 25 was light and ethereal, dancing on the tongue with a tannic note in the finish to show the long age. The ambassador said the 18 had no sherry barrels but nonetheless it had a pleasant fruity note, probably from estery development. The 25 was a mix of sherry and bourbon barrel whisky, some older than 25 years. Only single malt can grow to such great age yet seem light and elegant due to the smaller effect of the reused barrels than for bourbon and someone mentioned the distillery takes special care to ensure the barrels for the old expressions are used many times to permit the spirit not to get over-woody. A fine evening which renewed acquaintance with one of the world's great malts.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisg Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Last night I finished the last of a bottle of Springbank 11Yr Madeira Wood. This had opened up nicely over a couple of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisg Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Friday night was a couple of drams of Port Charlotte 8 Yr from SMWS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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