Favorite single malt

[gfweb]

MacAllan neat with one small ice cube . I don't like the peaty ones much. I know I'm uncool.

[Ashen]

Are you new to scotch?

I'd be leaning the other way and recommending the very drinkable Dalwhinnie for one of them. For the other I'd go for something more interesting. I'm inclined to go with Lagavulin over Talisker. Or treat yourself to 2 * tastings and hit:

Dalwhinnie

Lagavulin

Auchentoshan 3 or Oban

Springbank

That'll cover a nice spectrum of drams. As much as Oban and Dalwhinnie are from the same region I think they're quite different.

If you've hit just enough whisky to know you really like peat then there's always a combo like this:

Laphroaig (at the end: hit this one last)

Lagavulin

Talisker

Springbank (probably my starting point)

i would say I have had a medium exposure to different single malts. I have a bottle of dalwhinnie 15 and I am still working on finishing off the bottle of Talisker I talked about upthread. I have tried Oban, jura, glenlivet,glenfiddich, Lagavulin over the years . I enjoyed them all to some degree , although Talisker would not be a repeat purchase for me. I also enjoy blended scotch, tried Johnnie walker black over christmastime and liked it.. I would liken it to really good roast chicken dinner. not them most exotic thing around but very satisfying when you are in the mood. To be truthful most bottles I have bought recently have tended to be Canadian whisky, different expression of 40 Creek or Rum. The price of the single malts makes them rare purchases. I sipped a really beautiful rum yesterday, Angostura 1919 Rum from trinadad.

trying different tastings at the restuarant will let me get an idea of whether I like a single malt enough to invest in a bottle . We end up going there are least 4 or 5 times a year so I imagine I will get through most of the list eventually.

Edited January 12, 2014 by Ashen (log)

[Rafa]

In that case I would say go with the Highland Park and either the Balvenie or the Auchentoshan. Springbanks tend to be idiosyncratic and expensive, and perhaps not the best next step if you're iffy on single malts overall.

[Jeff K]

I see a few shout outs for Laphroaig. It's my favorite I've tasted so far, but I'd probably drink a peat bog straight up if it were fermented enough. I do plan to try a few more Islay single malts when I get a chance, depending on what's available here in Bangkok (or in duty free when I fly)...

[Rafa]

Try some Ardbeg or Lagavulin. Octomore is great stuff, if you can find it and it won't bankrupt you.

[ChrisTaylor]

Bruichladdich 10, Lagavulin 16 and Ardbeg (the 10 year old standard or, if you can get it, Uigeadail).

[ChrisTaylor]

A recent non-scotch tasting (continuing to fight the power, etc): Dickel 12, which only recently came to be available locally at a reasonable price. This is really good. Not exciting or contemplative or whatever: just damn good whiskey.

[Hassouni]

Octomore is great stuff, if you can find it and it won't bankrupt you.

I can, and it will. I need to get in on some super secret Octomore tasting...

[tanstaafl2]

A couple of nice ones I tried recently.

First is the Springbank 12 Cask Strength and it is a new favorite! Lovely as is and really blossoms with just a smidge of water. Also been trying a few Longrow's, Springbank's peatier sibling.

The new Caol Ila release called Stitchell Reserve is the NAS unpeated version they release every few years. This one is named for the retiring master distiller, Billy Stitchell, and presumably he had a hand in creating it. Usually the periodic unpeated release has an age statement but this one does not. A blend of several different finishes and it is really, really good stuff! Not peaty but a hint of smoke down deep in there and a wonderful example of the whiskey that Caol Ila can make without the overlay of peated malt.

[ChrisTaylor]

Non-scotch again!

Thomas H Handy Saz. Oh man. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Definitely needs the water--at 66% it doesn't fuck around--but, yeah, lovely dram. I've had this in Old Fashioneds and Sazeracs in the past but now that I actually own a bottle I couldn't bring myself to mix with it. And I say that about almost nothing else in my collection.

[EvergreenDan]

This is very strange. I poured a bit of Lagavulin 16 (my favorite of Scotches that I can drink without a pang of guilt). With every sip, I get a strong nose of peach. I'm not talking about close-your-eyes-and-imagine-the-gestalt-of-peach. I'm not talking about florid descriptions referencing shoe leather, ear wax, or forest duff. Peach, like peach jam. Nothing peachy on the palate, only the nose. I've sniffed my hands, clothes, chair and naughty bits -- no hint of peach anywhere.

I've never noticed this before. Perplexed.

[ChrisTaylor]

How clean is your glassware? Any detergent residue?

[Rafa]

Scent is complicated. Something you smelled or ate earlier in the day could be discombobulating you. Take a break (hard to pull away from the Lagavulin, I know) and try again later.

Or is it a new bottle? You may have just gotten an off-profile one. Though I've never gotten peaches from Lag; apples, maybe, and tire fire, but that's it.

Or make a Georgita with it.

[nickrey]

One wine tasting trick (no guarantees where it is an urban myth or not) is to reset your olfactory system by sniffing some coffee beans.

[Rafa]

That's done when sampling perfumes as well, and does seem to work (though that may just be my own suggestibility).

[mkayahara]

Some Highland Park 18 tonight. A very satisfying dram. In that horrifying parallel dimension where I have to choose only one bottle, this might be it.

[Rafa]

Were I stuck there with you I might have to fight you for the same bottle.

[FrogPrincesse]

These guys also detect peach in their Lagavulin's nose but it's the 30 years. Also here in the 2013 Distiller Edition.

Mine does not have any peach - just checked last night to make sure!

[EvergreenDan]

The peach is gone from the Lagavulin. Glass was cleaned like all the others, and I don't detect any odor from any of the glassware.

But now I hear Elvis playing when I drink it.

[scubadoo97]

 

But now I hear Elvis playing when I drink it.

Drink more and report back

[nickrey]

The peach is gone from the Lagavulin. Glass was cleaned like all the others, and I don't detect any odor from any of the glassware.

But now I hear Elvis playing when I drink it.

Is he in the next room playing live?

[EvergreenDan]

But now I hear Elvis playing when I drink it.

Drink more and report back

Turns out it was Costello. Phew.

[nickrey]

Ok, it's a blend rather than a single malt but it's had such an interesting treatment and tastes so different, I thought I'd post it.

I was buying some Romate Palo Cortado Sherry (which is delicious by the way) and came across this whisky:

Sheep Dip Amoroso Oloroso.

It was distilled and blended in Scotland in 1999 and matured in bourbon barrels for three years. It was then shipped to Spain and matured for nine years in Oloroso Sherry Casks at Sanchez Romate.

It has a really chocolatey/caramel nose. The palate has heaps of vanilla and hints of stone fruit and spice with a really long dark treacle tart after-taste.

[Yojimbo]

@Ashen,

If smoky, peaty malts aren't your thing, I'd try an affordable Highland like Glenmorangie 10 yr., and if you really want to go clean and light, go for another Speyside.

For me, I will go to my grave carrying a bottle of something Islay, like Lagavulin, or Talisker, or Aberlour, or . . . well, if I'm gonna be in there a long time, I'll want some variety, right?

[Chris Amirault]

• Bruichladdich The Laddie 10: holy shit amazing whisky. Picked it up based on vague recommendations and someone's recent post in the bottle shop thread. A winner.

Chris, can you say more about this? What was so terrific about it? Thanks in advance.