Single-Malt Whisky

Hi folks,

Suggestions sought. I am looking to buy a nice bottle for a good friend whose fairly limited experience of malts suggests he likes sherry matured whiskies and doesn't like even slightly peated drams. He fell deeply in love with my 15 year old Gordon and Macphail Mortlach Linkwood, and the Balvenie Doublewood went down well too, but he didn't take to something even mildly peaty such as Jura Superstition.

The temptation is to go for an older expression of Mortlach or Balvenie, keeping the sherry constant and staying firmly over the East side of the country, but would kind of like to broaden his horizons a bit and get him somethine else he'll enjoy as much. I recently devoured a bottle of Dailuaine 16 (flora and fauna) and loved it but some tasting notes suggest a peaty note which I don't pick up but a more sensitive palate might....

Am prepared to spend a bit of money on this one so suggestions welcome...

Cheers!


[EDIT] - It wasn't Mortlach he took an initial shine to, it was LINKWOOD. D'oh. Which I guess makes Mortlach an option....?

I stopped at Binny's after lunch today (any of you not in the Chicagoland area or unfamilair with Binny's - I grieve for you.) I overheard a discussion between a salesguy and a Scotch noob and I distinctly heard: ARD-berg, ISSS-lay, AK-un-TOE-shen, LA-guv'lin, and a Bowmore that rhymed with "Cow Lore." He referred to the Laphroiag and Caol Ila by pointing at them and didn't even try.

Fortunately the noob ended up with a Balvenie 12 yr Double Wood, so even if he has been misinformed about pronunciation, he's still got a fine bottle of whisky in his hand.

Since every other aspect of my life seems intent on driving me to drink right now, I'm thankful for the drink I have!

Balvenie 21 yr Port Wood - I don't drink this one much as it is the older statesman of the group and I really want to be in the mood for it. Thus, I have no tasting notes.

Highland Park 18 - OK, I get it now. I used to prefer the 12 year, but having spent time with this bottle I understand the difference. I can really enjoy the complexity and the interplay of flavors on this one - the heathery sweetness, the slightly earthy/peaty notes, the florals. Very nicely done. Glad I have another in waiting.

Talisker 18 - nuff said. Plus an extra in waiting.

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban - I enjoy this, but not immensely. I have had a lot of very strongly finished bottles lately and this one is firmly 'meh.' Not worth $50 when I can get a Glenfiddich 15 yr Solera Reserve for $35 and I can barely tell them apart.

Longmorn 15 yr. I broke off the cork. Dangit. Thankfully I had a decanter handy. I like the subtle citrus I get on the nose of this one, though I don't taste it. It feels not quite sweet enough, but I think that is due to all the sherry/port monsters I have had lately. This should retrain my tongue well.

Scapa 14 - unopened.

Tamdhu NAS - unopened. Bought it because it was cheap and rare.

Singleton of Auchroisk - unopened. Boght it because it was rare. Hope to resell it at some point.

Linkwood 15 year - recently departed sherry monster. ENORMOUS sweet nose on that thing, though the taste didn't match the smell.

Buffalo Trace bourbon - recently departed. Too sweet for me. Maybe tomorrow I'll go look for some closeout Irish whisky that didn't get sold for St. Drunkard's Day. I loves me a deal as much as I loves me a drink.

Time to add to the stable, I think.

My Google-fu has failed and the Glencairn company site does not have a contact link.

Does anyone know if Glencairn has a distributor in the US/North America? Their whisky glasses are everywhere, but I'm interested in some other things on their site and don't want to pay trans-Atlantic shipping.

Santa left a Glenfidditch 15 year gift set with a cheap snifter and a 50 mL of the 18 year old under the tree. Oh, and 50 mL bottles of JW Black, Dewars, Glenlivet 12 and some other thing in my stocking.

So, what did you guys get for Christmas?

I bought this one around this time last year as a birthday present to myself, but it had to be shipped to a friend's UK address and I didn't have it in my hands until July of this year. I waited until my birthday of this year (Dec 10) to finally try it out:

Ardbeg Lord of the Isles (46%)

Nose: toffee, cream, smoky, sweet, heathery floral late in the nose, fruity

Palate: caramel/toffee, smoky, a little tobacco, a little earthy, some salt, lightly oily, smooth, nutty, fruity

Finish: sweet, sooty smoke, full and long, faintly salty

adding water...

Nose: fruity sweet, some smoke, some dark chocolate

Palate: sweet, toffee, smoky, a little salt, fruity

Finish: creamy, smoky, sweet, salt, nice and long

A great one from Ardbeg. Rich and full and tasty. Definitely one to relax to and savor. I lucked out and got it from Ardbeg's online shop when it was about USD$300, and as great as it is I'm not sure if it's quite worth $300. That said, I certainly don't regret having it! :) Unfortunately, it's out of stock and going for around $400 in auctions these days - there are certainly better ways to spend that kind of money on whisky.

Talisker 57' North (57%)

Nose: sweet, cereal, constrained, whiff of hot pepper

Palate: definitely tastes like a Talisker, cerealy, spicy, faint hot pepper, oily, lightly smoky

Finish: smoky, cerealy

adding water...

Nose: definite hot pepper, sweet, cerealy, oily

Palate: hot pepper, cereal, black pepper, oily, touch of sweetness

Finish: light smoke, cereal, sweet, touch of banana

Oddly, this one isn't salty like the Talisker 10-year. At any rate, I loved this one! I saw it at a duty-free shop a couple of years ago in Schipol Airport, Amsterdam, but I had to sprint to catch my flight. A local friend happened to have a bottle and was gracious enough to share! If you like Talisker, you'll love the 57' North!


Bladnoch 1985 (Scott's Selection, 12-year, 60%)

Nose: lemon, cereal, olive oil, whiff of alcohol, hay, perfumey

Palate: oily, cerealy, faint citrus, some alcohol, faint herbal bitter, rich

Finish: hay, oil, faintly bitter, faintly citrus

adding water...

Nose: sweet, lemon, hay, flowery

Palate: sweet, lemon, hay, oil, spice

Finish: lemon, oil

A marvelous Bladnoch, and I'm glad Joe Howell from Federal Wine & Spirits in Boston recommended it!

Arran Madeira finish (8 years in oak casks, 10 months in madeira casks, 50%)

Nose: sweet, orange marmalade, toffee, nutty - very fragrant nose on this one

Palate: very sharp alcohol, sweet orange, toffee, nutty, vanilla, bit of wood

Finish: orange, nutty, wood, medium length

Definitely enjoy this one with tiny sips. It's not a casual, social sipping whisky, but rather one with which to sit down and pay attention. The nose is marvelous, but the palate - while very tasty - doesn't quite live up to it.


Balvenie 17 Madeira finish (43%)

Nose: peachy/melony, but drier than I'm accustomed to from madeira finishes. faint wood, faint caramel, nutty, toffee

Palate: light, semi-sweet, peachy, melony, nutty, very smooth, faintly buttery

Finish, peachy, melony, a touch of dried apricot, nutty, faintly woody, medium length

I like this one a lot more after having a full dram of it, rather than the quick sample I had a while back. Rather nice, but not worth the $115 MSRP. Luckily, my roommate got it on sale for $75, and it's about worth that.

My local giant grocery store with an enormous attached liquor department seems to have their Glenrothes 1991 mislabeled (and under-priced appropriately) as the Select Reserve. I have had the Select Reserve and didn't care for it but I have read that it is a poor representation of the distillery. Can anybody give me some insight on the issue? Is the 1991 any better than the SR?

Heya! Last week I went to Montreal and sampled some whiskies at the big SAQ near McGill, and farheavens brought me to the Burgundy Lion on Notre Dame near the Atwater Metro stop. I tried a bunch of things, including AnCnoc, Isle of Jura 10, Bowmore 16 Bordeaux, and four from BenRiach.

( Here are the notes!Collapse )