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[S. L.]

on a sidenote, i tasted the Ardbeg Ten against the Ardbeg Corryveckan today and i thiiink i prefer the ten.
The Corry has much more complex nose, less sweet and just more to it. the Ten is more 'bland' with a sweet vanilla note.
But the taste and finish for the Ten works really well with heavy peat, sweetish vanilla and herbs.
The Corry seems a bit less peaty but much smokier and packs more of a punch, taste and finish are more complex as well and actually mirror the nose quite well but there is a tiny tiny bit of bitterness in the finish. all in all the Ten just seems rounder.

i'd rate both 4 out of 5 stars'ish
my 2 cent

(generally i think Ardberg is waaaay overhyped and too expensive for what it offers, but eh)

 

[TheExodu5]

the yamazaki 12 is light and mellow, the yoichi 10 will pack a bit of a punch, smokey, peaty and a underlying heavy sweetness.
both are great and worth trying

if you enjoy heavy dark beers i'd say give the yoichi a try

Hmmmm.

I think I want to try something on the smokier side. I've had the Glenfiddich 12 and it was a little sweet, and not complex enough for my tastes. The mouthburn was pretty evident for me...but I guess that might go away in time.

I might go with the Yoichi 10, then.

 

[arotator]

I haven't had the 10 year so I can't comment on it. My Corry is sitting on my whisky table still waiting to be opened (waiting for a special occasion).

I'd agree that Ardbegs are too expensive for their age, but I'd have to disagree that they are too expensive for what they offer. In my limited experience, the Uigeadal is unlike anything else I've had under $100 and a step above anything else I've had in its price range in terms of taste (subjective, obviously). I'd also agree that they've received a lot of good publicity in the last 4 years, but I'd like to attribute that to the quality of the dram. So I'd certainly agree there is a lot of hype surrounding their products, but I don't think it's "over" hype, and most the reviews would suggest they are putting out exceptional products.

I'd also agree that any hype they have received has inflated and continues to inflate their prices. But as far as I'm concerned, if I spend $20 more and get a same or similar age whisky, but one that is doing far more interesting things, is cask strength, packs more flavor, and is a limited expression, so long as it is sufficiently different and better, that is money well spent. Perhaps ideally its price *should* reflect the cost of most other 10-12 year old whiskies, but for the reasons just mentioned, I can justify why it doesn't.

Out of curiosity, what would you recommend in place of an Uigeadal (if you've had it?) or the Corry or the 10 in the $70-100 price range? I'll keep an eye out for whatever you recommend if I haven't had it yet. It sounds like Ardbeg's aren't your cup of tea, which is fine, we all have different tastes, but now I'm curious to know what I'm missing out on!

Oh, and how are you getting samples? Do you review for some publication, own a store or something?

Thanks

 

[S. L.]

hey, i said 4 out of 5 stars, that isn't bad

i'd rate the uigeadal above the ten and the corry from what i remember
peaty sherry cask whiskys (what the uige more or less is) are often pretty nice, thou you rarely find them as an OB usually only single casks
so if you can get your hands on a Port Charlotte sherry cask... mmm yummy
same for Laphroiag or Caol Ila

my notes say i had a
Port Charlotte, 2001
Sherry Hogshead
Cask No: 833, Number of bottles: 336
Distilled: 06/12/2001, Bottled: 02/2010
61,6% vol.

heavily sherried and lots of peat and smoke

edit:
samples i get from whisky enthusiast forums
i think i wrote about that before

i don't write for any publication or whatever (lol) i mostly only share my opinions with gaf or my excel list and generally i am more of a japanese whisky guy (so take my comments about price/value not too seriously lol)

 

[Animal]

I posted a couple days ago that I had tasted my first Japanese Whiskey.

Well I went ahead and located a bottle (not easy) and bought it: Yamazaki 12 Year.

 

[ChryZ]

In my limited experience, the Uigeadal is unlike anything else I've had under $100 and a step above anything else I've had in its price range in terms of taste (subjective, obviously).

Uigeadal is amazing value for its price. Definitely one of my most favorite single malts.

 

[GroteSmurf]

I got a dutch whisky for my bday (well sharing it with my brother)

I havent tasted it yet and have no idea if its any good but it sure is a special whisky

Pic:

 

[Divius]

I got a dutch whisky for my bday (well sharing it with my brother)

I havent tasted it yet and have no idea if its any good but it sure is a special whisky

Pic:

 

[Chuckie]

I got a dutch whisky for my bday (well sharing it with my brother)

I havent tasted it yet and have no idea if its any good but it sure is a special whisky

Pic:

Wow what a freak coincidence.... my brother got a dutch whisky yesterday... and he has to share it with me

 

[S. L.]

got a sample of the 1995 LMdW Sherry Cask Yamazaki

almost black

unfortunately the bottle is a bit expensive for me atm at ~225€

 

[edotherocket]

I only recently got my posting priveleges on NeoGaf and one of things I was most looking forward to was participating in this thread.

I became a convert to single malts a couple of years ago when some colleagues at work in Sydney gave me a bottle of Talisker as a farewell gift. Been hooked ever since.

I've been lurking in this thread for a while and even picked up a couple of bottles based on peoples suggestions.

Here's the state of my whisky collection at present:

What I want to know is if anyone had any impressions on the Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix. It was available for purchase in Australia only for a very short time through the Dan Murphys website and now it appears to be sold out just about everywhere. Was anyone luck enough to get their hands on some?

Born out of months of heavy snow during Christmas 2009 when four distillery rooves collapsed. This whisky is a tribute to those who rescued many oak casks from winters bitter cold. Snow Phoenix was created by marrying together natural strength and non-chill filtered casks of different ages and finishes, including American oak and Oloroso Sherry. The result is a single malt, gold in colour with bright copper highlights. - Melodramatic Glenfiddich Production Notes

 

[S. L.]

Here's the state of my whisky collection at present:

yum, wouldn't mind tasting trough that
looks like a pretty good Speyside'ish collection

 

[ChryZ]

Here's the state of my whisky collection at present

Very nice collection, what's your current favorite?

 

[yonder]

So about a month back I got the chance to visit Edradour distillery and came home with this guy:

Reminds me a lot of Acnoc 12. It has a great mix of sweet honey and tingling lemon that complement each other really well. Also has a touch of aniseed, fennel and some herbal notes.

edo, nice collection!

 

[Augemitbutter]

got a few new bottles which i'll be tasting soon

great collection guys!

 

[Divius]

What I want to know is if anyone had any impressions on the Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix. It was available for purchase in Australia only for a very short time through the Dan Murphys website and now it appears to be sold out just about everywhere. Was anyone luck enough to get their hands on some?

My local whisky-place had a couple of these bottles, since the owner is a whisky freak and loves these rare kinds of bottles. He bought himself 3 bottles: 1 to drink, and 2 to 'save' since they'll probably increase in value. He said it was a very peculiar whisky, but basically just a regular 12 y/o Glenfiddich with a twist and not worth the price. (I believe he charged like €70 for a bottle, a regular 12 is like €25/30 iirc)

 

[arotator]

I only recently got my posting priveleges on NeoGaf and one of things I was most looking forward to was participating in this thread.

I became a convert to single malts a couple of years ago when some colleagues at work in Sydney gave me a bottle of Talisker as a farewell gift. Been hooked ever since.

I've been lurking in this thread for a while and even picked up a couple of bottles based on peoples suggestions.

Here's the state of my whisky collection at present:

What I want to know is if anyone had any impressions on the Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix. It was available for purchase in Australia only for a very short time through the Dan Murphys website and now it appears to be sold out just about everywhere. Was anyone luck enough to get their hands on some?

Man, I'm going to need a bigger whisky table. Mine is about half that size right now but growing all the itme.

 

[edotherocket]

Very nice collection, what's your current favorite?

I'm a big of the peaty Isle whiskies so my favourite would currently be the 16yr old Lagavulin. Absolutely love it.

My local whisky-place had a couple of these bottles, since the owner is a whisky freak and loves these rare kinds of bottles. He bought himself 3 bottles: 1 to drink, and 2 to 'save' since they'll probably increase in value. He said it was a very peculiar whisky, but basically just a regular 12 y/o Glenfiddich with a twist and not worth the price. (I believe he charged like €70 for a bottle, a regular 12 is like €25/30 iirc)

Damn, thats quite a mark up in price. It's pretty much what the going rate is in Australia with resellers now. Shame I didn't get in sooner when it was first in stock.

So about a month back I got the chance to visit Edradour distillery and came home with this guy:

I think I've visited that distillery before. It promotes itself as the smallest distillery in Scotland right? I picked up my Blair Atholl there last year on holiday.

 

[POWERSPHERE]

Laphroiag is only $32 at Trader Joes in LA. Man, USA rules.

 

[Augemitbutter]

the regular Laphroaig bottle costs about 26€ in europe, so that's about right.

 

[Flo_Evans]

I'm a big of the peaty Isle whiskies so my favourite would currently be the 16yr old Lagavulin. Absolutely love it.

Really nice collection and yes, lagavulin 16 can't be beat!

 

[S. L.]

Man, I'm going to need a bigger whisky table. Mine is about half that size right now but growing all the itme.

70€ is a steal for the Snow Phoenix, it goes for well over 100 nowdays

 

[TheExodu5]

So I ended up picking a 375ml bottle of Glenlivet 12 and a a bottle half that size of Yoichi 10 ($35, ouch!).

The Yoichi is a little too tough for me right now...quick impressions are that it tastes quite medicinal.

So anyways, I'm trying the Glenlivet. I've found out how I like to drink it. I take a sip, and just let the burn envelop me for maybe 10 seconds or so. Then, when it goes down, I can appreciate the flavors without them being masked by the strong taste of alcohol.

We'll see if I can warm up enough to give the Yoichi another shot this weekend.

 

[ChryZ]

Cracked open my newest single malt last night: Glendronach 15 Sherry Cask. Excellent stuff, very earthy flavour, also dry, probably the most full bodied and complex Speyside whisky I had so far. Insanely long finish. Can't wait to have more of it!

 

[koji]

So anyways, I'm trying the Glenlivet. I've found out how I like to drink it. I take a sip, and just let the burn envelop me for maybe 10 seconds or so. Then, when it goes down, I can appreciate the flavors without them being masked by the strong taste of alcohol.

We'll see if I can warm up enough to give the Yoichi another shot this weekend.

Yup, that _is_ the best way to drink it. By leaving it in your mouth your troath gets used to the alcohol and you won't "burn" your troath when you do/drink it like that.

After taking a couple nips you can stop though, but I usually take my time.

 

[S. L.]

got some new samples

Nikka Taketsuru 12 (Japan)
Ben Nevis 11yo Sherry Refill
Amrut Peated Cask Strength (India!)
Tomatin 12yo
Bruichladdich 1988
Lagavulin 12yo 1995
Royal Lochnagar 13yo
Yamazaki SMWS 119.12 - 16yo - Mizunara Cask (Joy of joys! Finally i get to taste a full mizunara cask matured whisky, Mizunara is Japanese oak, the trees used for barrels are ~150years old - and the wood is a pain in the ass to make barrels from (leaky, etc) - making Mizunara cask whisky pretty damn super rare)

edit:
From what i gather bottle sharing/mailing samples around isn't exactly big outside of Germany at all?

 

[GroteSmurf]

Lemme know what you think when you've drank some, my local whisky-place had a couple of bottles, but the owner hadn't tasted any himself yet.

Well...i did not like it to be honest. It smelled like sherry...was quite sharp and overall not a very nice taste in my opinion...

I think i'll give it to my mom..she likes sherry

 

[arotator]

got some new samples
Nikka Taketsuru 12 (Japan)
Ben Nevis 11yo Sherry Refill
Amrut Peated Cask Strength (India!)
Tomatin 12yo
Bruichladdich 1988
Lagavulin 12yo 1995
Royal Lochnagar 13yo
Yamazaki SMWS 119.12 - 16yo - Mizunara Cask (Joy of joys! Finally i get to taste a full mizunara cask matured whisky, Mizunara is Japanese oak, the trees used for barrels are ~150years old - and the wood is a pain in the ass to make barrels from (leaky, etc) - making Mizunara cask whisky pretty damn super rare)

Jealous...

 

[TheExodu5]

I know it's a no-no, but I figured I'd try scotch on the rocks just to see. Instead of putting water, I put in an ice cube for maybe 15-20 seconds, enough to dilute it the same amount as if I had put in water, but just have it colder. Wow, the lower temperature really kills the flavor of the scotch. The alcohol taste is more prominent, and the sweetness of the Glenlivet 12 is very hard to detect.

Won't be trying that again.

 

[arotator]

It's not a terrible idea as long as you aren't defiling one of the nicer bottles in your collection. Sometimes, especially in the heat of summer, I like my dram with a little ice. I don't think I've ever done it with anything that tasted over $40 though.

 

[POWERSPHERE]

I'm living in LA at the moment, and I bought a bottle of Laphroiag as it's so cheap here, and people just filled a glass with ice and glugged it in. Really pissed me off, and when I said you should have smaller amounts neat, no one cared.

Fair enough, just know not to buy good things. Was only $30 though, you can't even get a bottle of Johnny Red for that in Australia.

 

[Evlar]

Bottle of Glenmorangie Original 10 Year and I'm happy.

 

[S. L.]

been nipping on a glass of Lagavulin 12yo Friends Of Classic Malts (FOCM) at 48%vol

it's surprisingly sweet and malty and also a tad milder than the standard 16yo. Also a slight sherry note. Plus the expected peat and smoke.
So even thou it is younger it is milder, but also less complex. Overall i'd say the common 16yo is better and also cheaper, but if you get a chance to taste a glass of this go for it for sure.

some others i recently tasted - and not posted about i think_
Tomatin 12 - pleasant - good value for the price
Macallan 12 Sherry Cask - pretty good - smooth with nice sherry and oak
Glendronach 15yo Moscatel Finish - i like this one, nice moscatel notes without being too sweet
Glendronach 14yo Sauternes Fishin - too sweet
Caol Ila Distillers Edition 1996-2008 12yo - with moscatel finish but too much of it - too sweet
Mortlach Flora & Fauna 16yo - pretty good, similar to the Macallan but i'm liking this one better
Ledaig 1998/2010 - peat and sherry, also quite complex and challenging. very good but nothing to drink every day

i can give more comprehensive tasting notes if you are interested (yeah right )

 

[edotherocket]

been nipping on a glass of Lagavulin 12yo Friends Of Classic Malts (FOCM) at 48%vol

it's surprisingly sweet and malty and also a tad milder than the standard 16yo. Also a slight sherry note. Plus the expected peat and smoke.
So even thou it is younger it is milder, but also less complex. Overall i'd say the common 16yo is better and also cheaper, but if you get a chance to taste a glass of this go for it for sure.

some others i recently tasted - and not posted about i think_
Tomatin 12 - pleasant - good value for the price
Macallan 12 Sherry Cask - pretty good - smooth with nice sherry and oak
Glendronach 15yo Moscatel Finish - i like this one, nice moscatel notes without being too sweet
Glendronach 14yo Sauternes Fishin - too sweet
Caol Ila Distillers Edition 1996-2008 12yo - with moscatel finish but too much of it - too sweet
Mortlauch Flora & Fauna 16yo - pretty good, similar to the Macallan but i'm liking it better
Ledaig 1998/2010 - peat and sherry, also quite complex and challenging. very good but nothing to drink every day

i can give more comprehensive tasting notes if you are interested (yeah right )

Man, you get your hands on some pretty interesting and uncommon whiskies S.L. I'd be pretty keen to try the Caol Isla Distillers Edition (I love the standard 12 yr old). Same goes for the Lagavulin as I regularly drink the standard 16 yr old.

Also, I picked up a whisky cabinet today at IKEA today. Gets delivered tomorrow. Looking forward to having somewhere nice to display my collection.

 

[S. L.]

Man, you get your hands on some pretty interesting and uncommon whiskies S.L. I'd be pretty keen to try the Caol Isla Distillers Edition (I love the standard 12 yr old). Same goes for the Lagavulin as I regularly drink the standard 16 yr old.

Also, I picked up a whisky cabinet today at IKEA today. Gets delivered tomorrow. Looking forward to having somewhere nice to display my collection.

the newer CI Distillers Editions are supposed to be less sweet, so i think those would be more enjoyable (for me at least). Thou most vintages of that one are fairly easy to obtain here.

 

[Sumidor]

Been sipping on some McCarthy's single malt made here in Oregon.

It's quite peaty and only aged 3 years, but I really like the flavors. It's a little on the expensive side at around $45-55, but it's one of the few single malts made in the US that I actually like.

 

[Harry Potter]

Been sipping on some McCarthy's single malt made here in Oregon.

It's quite peaty and only aged 3 years, but I really like the flavors. It's a little on the expensive side at around $45-55, but it's one of the few single malts made in the US that I actually like.

What's up with the snow cone cup?

 

[Sumidor]

I left a bottle at the bar I work at, so that I could give my regulars a taste of it. And I put the snow cone on, to deter the servers from drinking it and so the other bartender wouldn't sell any of it.

 

[edotherocket]

Got my cabinet set up!

 

[arotator]

She's a bute, Clark. (Sorry for the Christmas Vacation reference).

 

[Sumidor]

Very sexy, how much did that cost you?

 

[edotherocket]

Very sexy, how much did that cost you?

It's a "HEMNES" cabinet from IKEA so whatever that costs in your country. I got this for $700 AUS.

 

[Darkatomz]

Went to a MaCallan tasting event late last week in Boston, was pretty interesting! Don't know too much about scotch/whiskey at this point in my life, but I've been interested for a while. Well before I kept tabs on this thread.

They let us sample the 10, 12, 15, and 18yo if I remember correctly. Definitely would put the 12 down as my personal favorite, with the 18yo coming in at number two. My friend preferred the 12yo as well. It was sweeter and smoother than the rest IIRC. Probably a noob scotch, but oh well.

 

[koji]

Went to a MaCallan tasting event late last week in Boston, was pretty interesting! Don't know too much about scotch/whiskey at this point in my life, but I've been interested for a while. Well before I kept tabs on this thread.

They let us sample the 10, 12, 15, and 18yo if I remember correctly. Definitely would put the 12 down as my personal favorite, with the 18yo coming in at number two. My friend preferred the 12yo as well. It was sweeter and smoother than the rest IIRC. Probably a noob scotch, but oh well.

I've got the 18 at home, very good Scotch, almost too smooth, I wouldn't call it a noob scotch though but it's definitely a bottle you can let a non scotch drinker taste and they won't freak out about it

Latest addition to my collection is a liter bottle of Glengrant 16

Very good stuff, very smooth, silky in texture and fruity, definitely a bottle to recommend, pretty pricy though, got it as a gift.

 

[Azar]

A friend of mine had a birthday last week and I found out he likes Johnny Walker, so I started looking through this thread for good whiskeys. Ended up spending like an hour and a half reading, dammit. Should be able to pick up something good for him tomorrow, though--hoping the local package store has Yamazaki.

Also, S. L.'s spiral into mass whiskey purchasing has been highly entertaining.

 

[TheExodu5]

This Yoichi goes really well with Big John's Fiery Teriyaki Beef Jerky.

 

[Esch]

just tried glenmorangie astar

it's probably the best tasting thing i've ever consumed

 

[TheExodu5]

Alright, so I enjoyed the Yoichi 10 a fair bit. I didn't like it at first, but it really grew on me. The complexity of the flavour was just so appealing. I've had some Glenlivet 12 in between, and every time, I just kept wanting to go back and smell that beautiful Yoichi. It's funny, at first I'd describe the flavour as that of an old boot...but it was just more and more intriguing, every time I went to it.

Since I'm warming up to whiskey, I figured I'd try something different. I picked up a Dalwhinnie 15. Never heard anything about it, but the description of the bottle intrigued me. It's described as such:

Dalwhinnie is a mellow, subtle malt. Yielding flavours of creamy vanilla and a heather-honey sweetness, it finishes in a smoky Highland glow of surprising intensity.

I wanted to try something "smokey", so we'll see how this goes. Don't think I'll be going back to the Glenlivet or Glenfiddich for a while. They just don't appeal to me very much. Not much flavour to go on.

Any suggestions on what else to try? This bottle was a little pricey at $80...so I'll try to make it last.

edit: tried the Dalwhinnie. I'm a little disappointed. It's more pleasing than the Glenlivet, but I expected a more complex flavor from a 15 year old scotch. Very smooth, though.

 

[Esch]

id say try that dalmore 12 is a nice bottle. got some good spicy notes with a kind of bourbony taste, and the color and packaging are super appealing as well

 

[Harry Potter]

So I'm still pretty green when it comes to single malts. I've had a 10 year Macallan and a 12 year Glenlivet. Any recommendations for what I should go for next?