What Wee Dram Are You Enjoying Now? - Spring/Summer 2015

[garbanzobean]

Glenfarclas 105 tonight. This one really takes water well. All that dense sherry flavor really opens up. The hints of creaminess are still there, though it seems to be morphing into a bready/biscuity/malty sort of thing. No complaints here, I'm just along for the ride.

[garbanzobean]

Killed the last bit of my Bladnoch 22, then opened a new bottle: G&M Connoisseur's Choice Inchgower 13. Very easy drinking. There is some Speysider fruitness, but I'm also smelling and tasting a good bit of Inchgower's promised brine/saline notes. Pencil lead. Maybe some peaches, and definitely savory herbs. Maybe dried parsley. All in all, not bad, but not super memorable outside of the brine and savory notes that I typically associate with non-Speysiders. Very easy drinking compared to the other malts I have open right now. Drinks a bit older than 13 years, but I think this will permanently satisfy my Inchgower curiousity.

[garbanzobean]

Talisker 10. As I've taken the bottle down a good bit, the whisky has transformed from being overly harsh to the Talisker 10 I know and love. Too bad the first half of the bottle was nigh undrinkable and required some mixing and/or heavy water application. Lesson learned though. If the Talisker DE I've got in the bunker tastes like crap when I open it up, I'm immediately decanting half of it until the whisky learns itself.

[garbanzobean]

My friend and coworker, who is a fan of peated whisky, is retiring. His last official day at work was yesterday. My gift to him (or payback for all the free homebrew he's been giving me) was a bottle of Ledaig 10, something we've both never tried before (I like to live dangerously). He cracked it on the spot and shared a drink with anyone who wanted a pour.

First impressions: nice heavy peat, somewhere between Ardbeg and Laphroaig, which makes me think Tobermory is buying from Port Ellen maltings. So outside of the brine, saline, TCP, smoke, and other peaty goodness, I caught some black licorice and then nice smooth vanilla. Lots of vanilla. I'm assuming that this is 100% ex bourbon.

Overall a really nice Islay alternative! My guess is that Tobermory is using much fresher ex bourbon casks than the Islay malts seem to, given how spirit driven some of them are (nothing wrong with that). My one complaint about this is that it was previously $49, and just recently rose to $58. $58 is pretty steep for a 10 year old whisky, even one as tasty as this. Heck, the same store typically has Lagavulin 16 on sale for $54. At any rate, this is up there with the best of the age stated young Islay malts; 46.3% abv, NCF, MAYBE no caramel added but not sure, and the oak management over at Tobermory/Ledaig seems different enough to make it worth a purchase at least once. I'm definitely going to poke around for some IBs of Ledaig . . .

[garbanzobean]

Finally opened a bottle of Port Askaig 19 to replace the Talisker 10 I dun kilt off. I think this is going to need to breathe for a bit . . . nose starts off with green apple and fried bacony peat. Taste is a lot of the same, but the peat is sweeter. Younger and more vibrant than I was expecting for a 19 year old cask strength Islay malt. Very spirit driven, but quite drinkable at cask strength. I'm guessing ex bourbon, probably ex ex ex ex ex bourbon, if you get my drift. I think I'll give it some air time, but so far tastes a lot like some of the off profile IB Caol Ila I've had in the past. Much less smoky than the OB. Very tasty so far!

Edit: The apple is already morphing to sweet lemon, which is a favorite flavor of mine. Loving it! Glad I took advantage of the TWE sale. I just need tropical fruits and twizzlers/varnish to show up, and this'll be up there in the winner's circle.

Edited April 26, 2015 by garbanzobean

[The Boozer]

Finished a bottle of Caol Ila 18 year. Enjoyed every drop! Very nice combo of sweet malt and earthy peat with a hint of smoke. Two bottles left in the bunker and will be sad once they are gone.

[garbanzobean]

Drinking a sample size of Tomatin 18. This is really nice! Nice sherried whisky, somehow juicy with a spicy, dry finish. Has a bit of a grass in the finish there as well. I generally don't think most mid aged sherried whiskies are that unique, but this is as good as any.

[garbanzobean]

Port Askaig 19. This bottle is really enjoyable. I'm not tasting the cask influence that my betters (Serge) seem to taste, but that's fine by me. The spirit is nice and peaty, with a ton of lemon and lime (flesh and rind), with some doughy sweetness at the end. Great peaty finish. If you told me this was 19 year old Ardbeg, I wouldn't argue with you (it's not, just trying to illustrate the feel of the spirit). Though it does share some commonalities with a McGibbon's Provenance Caol Ila 14 yr I had awhile back, which was also off the Caol Ila profile in the same way this is. At this point, I am really glad I bought up all that old Caol Ila last year, since the late teenage stuff has been brilliant.

Definitely going to buy more of this if TWE puts it on sale again.

[garbanzobean]

Had a small sample of Inchgower (I think maybe first editions? Not really sure) today. I was mostly interested in comparing it to the bottle I have open. What I took away from it was a nice sherried malt with an obvious touch of saline. Pleasant, though not overly complex. I'd take Bunnahabhain over it any day. It does not taste anything like the bottle I currently have open. Pretty sure mine has a lot of dreaded sulfur taint, after trying this sample.

[ChainWhip]

^^ love malts that remind me of bottle rocket fights we had as kids =]b

[garbanzobean]

^^ love malts that remind me of bottle rocket fights we had as kids =]b

I wouldn't characterize myself as sensitive to sulfur, but this seems to take away from the malt. I'm going to keep trying to wrap my head around it, see if I can figure out if that's what's bothering me. I think there's a decent dram hiding in there somewhere.

[Darwin]

I seem to be stuck on Grangestone 12 this week. Not sure who makes it, but I am enjoying it as a daily dram.

[unclebunk]

I hit a couple of different things last night, finishing off a bottle of Clynelish 14 and putting a major dent in my last remaining bottle of Aberlour 10. I was bummed to finish off the former but can at least replace that one. I'll be sad to see the latter go, that's for sure!

[garbanzobean]

G&M CC Inchgower 13 again tonight. It seems to be tasting a bit better with some air.

[tkrinor]

Springbank double dark 100 tonight, had a bitc?? of a work week, now I feel better,, that is awesome stuff and I had to have a double, made the Springbank 21 warm up seem pretty trivial.. but down to the last 1/3 of bottle,,,

[garbanzobean]

That Inchgower 13 died. Never did amount to much. I'm not saying I wouldn't try another offering of this, just that I would definitely want to try before I buy next time.

So tonight I went ahead and opened my bottle of Berry's Littlemill 21, cask Ref 14, 46%. Total Wine "exclusive." While I would have liked to have had this one at cask strength, it is pretty damn good as is. It has some familial relation to that Bladnoch 22 I loved, but it is less grassy and has a thicker, more oily mouthfeel. Light stone fruit throughout. Maybe some really faint tropical fruit notes. Definitely some waxiness there as well. Very good, but I think it's going to be amazing once it breathes a bit.

A big thank you again to SB for introducing me to these lowland gems. I probably never would have tried them, and they are really tasty. It's a shame they seem to be a dying breed. I can't imagine who wouldn't love this stuff.

[unclebunk]

Good ol' Laphroaig 10 last night. Always solid and more amazing with each sip. And to think there was a time that I actually hated the stuff. Nowadays I wouldn't be without a bottle. There are so many quality single malts on the market these days but Laphroaig 10 remains a benchmark whisky in my book.

[Tucker]

Capping off a long day with a pour of Teeling Small Batch.

[GaryT]

Wrapping up a gorgeous Saturday with some HP18. Side note - this goes dangerously well with blueberry pie! Not sure what it is, but something about those two just are hitting every right note tonight! :yum:

[garbanzobean]

BBR Littlemill 21. It is striking me as much more flavorsome tonight, though also quite prickly. This particular dead/dying lowland style is interesting. A shame Glenkinchie is about all that's left, unless Bladnoch gets off life support.

[jsrudd]

I had a dram of Ichiro's Malt Chichibu Newborn last night. It's a six month old whiskey, but wow does it have a lot of flavor.

It really opened my eyes to how good really young whisky could be.

[garbanzobean]

I was trying to decide between opening a sherried whisky or a peated whisky, and figured I'd go with both: Ardbog. Been holding onto this for two years for no reason, really. My initial impression is pretty positive. To my tastes, this is definitely older than Auriverdes, and is very drinkable neat. It actually reminds me a bit of Lagavulin DE, just younger and turned up a bit. Hmm. After recent frustrations with Ardbeg, I'm almost disappointed to admit that this is really enjoyable. The Ardbeg limited releases tend to linger on shelves here, so hopefully I'll have a chance to try Perpetuum to decide whether or not I want a bottle. I'll see how this bottle goes, but I may pick up another bottle of Ardbog to replace this one instead, since I'm liking this one about as much as Corryvreckan. Yes, Ardbog is still on the shelves here.

Edited May 20, 2015 by garbanzobean
proofread no good

[Darwin]

Aberlour - A'Bunadh :yum:

[Memphis]

Picked up a 1992 vintage of a 16 yr Bowmore aged 6 yrs in ex-bourbon then 10 yrs in fresh Bourdeaux wine casks. Simply incredible stuff. So deep and rich, makes most of my Scotch malts seem bland by comparison. Can't keep my nose out of it. If available, I couldn't recommend it more.

[ChainWhip]

I was trying to decide between opening a sherried whisky or a peated whisky, and figured I'd go with both: Ardbog. Been holding onto this for two years for no reason, really. My initial impression is pretty positive. To my tastes, this is definitely older than Auriverdes, and is very drinkable neat. It actually reminds me a bit of Lagavulin DE, just younger and turned up a bit. Hmm. After recent frustrations with Ardbeg, I'm almost disappointed to admit that this is really enjoyable. The Ardbeg limited releases tend to linger on shelves here, so hopefully I'll have a chance to try Perpetuum to decide whether or not I want a bottle. I'll see how this bottle goes, but I may pick up another bottle of Ardbog to replace this one instead, since I'm liking this one about as much as Corryvreckan. Yes, Ardbog is still on the shelves here.

It opened up nicely after I left it on the shelf untouched for over a year.