What Wee Dram are you enjoying now?

[timd]

The last bottle of Longrow 10 I had tasted like vulcanized rubber. I wonder how your bottle stacks up to the Ardbeg Uigeadail or Laphroaig Triple Wood?

[ChainWhip]

Thx for your thoughts on this one timd! I will probably get a bottle.

[timd]

Had a wonderful pour of Springbank 18 last night. What an amazingly complex, light - yet rich (?!?) dram. This was a gift, and I cherish every pour and try to make this bottle last!

[AaronWF]

The last bottle of Longrow 10 I had tasted like vulcanized rubber. I wonder how your bottle stacks up to the Ardbeg Uigeadail or Laphroaig Triple Wood?

Much, much peatier - and the sherry influence is much reduced (especially from Uigeadail) - the color is so pale. The sherry only reveals itself on the finish with a nice sweet hit; it's not nearly as integrated as with either Uigie or 3W (and 3W, to me, is pretty light on the sherry).

Vulcanized rubber applies, too - but not quite that chemically. More actual "earth" than man-made type flavors/smells. I've had many a bottle of the Longrow 10 - but I bunkered a bunch a while back when it was on sale ($69!), so I've not had a release from the last 18 months at least - and while peaty, it was more smokey & briny - like a traditional Springer profile, just amped up.

Perhaps they are shifting the profile to be even more peat-influenced overall for this expression?

I opened up my first Longrow 10/100 last week and had a few. It had the same fresh, lively, just perfectly aggressive character I love in the Springbank 10/100, but with a mild salty, smoky, rough peat edge to it. The peat adds a grizzled dimension to what I find to be a deeply satisfying innocence in the Springer 10/100, but it in no way overpowered the honest liveliness, and I got no sense of the 'vulcanized rubber' referenced. It didn't come close to the dirty peat blasts of Ardbeg or Laphroaig.

Tim, do you know if they have stopped bottling the Longrow 10/100 like they have the Springbank 10/100? If so, I may just have to jump on the bottle I left on the shelf...

[timd]

Tim, do you know if they have stopped bottling the Longrow 10/100 like they have the Springbank 10/100? If so, I may just have to jump on the bottle I left on the shelf...

Haven't heard anything about Longrow 10/100 going away. Given it's typical price (over $100 for a 10yr), it's not a big seller. I doubt they will run low on stocks. They only distill Longrow (and Hazelburn) a tiny portion of the time they are running. So, while it's certainly a limited supply item, the demand, IMHO, is equally low - that is until more people find out about it and it becomes the Pappy of Scotch (which it already is, to me!).

When I find it on sale, I tend to buy 2-3 bottles at a shot. It's certainly not a "common" bottling at your everyday liquor store, but most any of them could order it in if you ask. I've never had any problem finding it - just finding it at the right price.

[timd]

I opened up my first Longrow 10/100 last week and had a few. It had the same fresh, lively, just perfectly aggressive character I love in the Springbank 10/100, but with a mild salty, smoky, rough peat edge to it. The peat adds a grizzled dimension to what I find to be a deeply satisfying innocence in the Springer 10/100, but it in no way overpowered the honest liveliness, and I got no sense of the 'vulcanized rubber' referenced. It didn't come close to the dirty peat blasts of Ardbeg or Laphroaig.

That description sounds exactly like the Longrow 10/100 I know and love. My Sherry Single Barrel, however is a different beast altogether... It's still very, very good - fantastic actually - but well outside of the Longrow house profile I'm familiar with.

[bad_scientist]

Lag 16 and Talisker 10. Unlike most scotches, I think the Talisker gets better after opening. When I first opened it, all I got was young barley. I still think it tastes too young, embarrassingly so to a bourbon lover, but it's softened up and the sharp barley has given way to yummy marshmallow with a touch of diesel fuel. Which sounds bizarre...

Lag 16 would be the perfect whisky at 46-50%. I've got nothing else to say about it that would give any insight.

[Brisko]

Lag 16 would be the perfect whisky at 46-50%. I've got nothing else to say about it that would give any insight.

...and about $20 less...

[bad_scientist]

If you can order from Schneider's on Capitol Hill (www.cellar.com), it's only $60.

...and about $20 less...

[IowaJeff]

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.

[WAINWRIGHT]

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.

I capped last night off with the Redbreast CS and I agree with Jeff it blows me away every time.I love the fruit,and it is a crisp and vibrant as you can get the proof doesn't hurt either.

[ChainWhip]

Had some Ardbeg Alligator last night - wonderful drifting back to my aqua vitae home of Islay after a long week

[WAINWRIGHT]

Dalmore Cigar Malt and a Laphroaig 1/4 Cask while the wife was at a baby shower,odd combination but quite rewarding.

[IowaJeff]

I capped last night off with the Redbreast CS and I agree with Jeff it blows me away every time.I love the fruit,and it is a crisp and vibrant as you can get the proof doesn't hurt either.

[Lab Walker]

glenmorangie and laphroig triple wood!

[bad_scientist]

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.

[boss302]

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!"

[unclebunk]

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!"

[unclebunk]

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.

[Max Power]

My sentiments as well. I still have a few Aberlour 10's around and hit the 12 regularly as well. But it's the 16 that really kills me every time. That whole line is really terrific if you don't mind a bit of sherry in the mix. Great stuff!

[unclebunk]

Agree Aberlour might be my favorite overall scotch line. If I had to keep just one around at all times, it would be Aberlour 12 for $33. It's good with just about everything.

[ebo]

I went back to an old favorite tonight... Highland Park 12.

[Brisko]

I went back to an old favorite tonight... Highland Park 12.

[unclebunk]

I went back to an old favorite tonight... Highland Park 12.

[sutton]

I've still got an open "old" bottle of HP12 that a Scottish friend brought me as a gift approximately six years ago. It is a litre bottle and shaped quite differently than the current bottle used by HP. It's still half full, so I'll have to do a side-by-side with a recently purchased bottle of HP12 to see how they compare.

I'll be interested in hearing that comparison - HP12 and HP18 are two of my favorites, but I've only had recent bottlings. I think these are both good values (even the HP18 at close to $100) but I've heard the earlier bottlings are even better.

Just getting into the Glenfarclas 12, which I've never seen up my way (only the 10, 15 and up). My first pour was great and a surprise - very similar to Macallan 12 but more of everything and no sharp edge that I get from younger Macallan now and then. More sherry, more body, more fruit, a bit of smoke on the finish - dense and well-balanced. The bottle was $50 in Cape May NJ and judging from the prices of other bottles I'm more familiar with, this might normally be around $45 - in my neck of the woods that is also cheaper than a Macallan 12.

I read this used to be a duty-free/travel bottling only - so don't know if it has been made more widely available recently.