Single Malt Scotch.

[schindlerpiste]

Last night, I got a little liquored up celebrating. I took a sip of that Bruichladdich Black Art and remembered Leo McGarry, "That's what I remember."

[Dee Hubbs]

I’m a big peat, Islay fan, but I also like variety.
I’m also not a dentist so I don’t buy any bottles over $250- $300

[EWG]

Big fan of Laphroaig which I see poking out there

There’s plenty of fantastic stuff to sip under $200. You are not hurting yourself with that cap.


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[bennymac]

Big fan of Laphroaig which I see poking out there

There’s plenty of fantastic stuff to sip under $200. You are not hurting yourself with that cap.


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Indeed. That is a quality selection. I'd love to sample the Port Charlotte.

[Brownski]

Big fan of Laphroaig which I see poking out there

There’s plenty of fantastic stuff to sip under $200. You are not hurting yourself with that cap.


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I agree on both counts. There is a ton of very good stuff for under $100. That’s a nice collection Dee Hubs. Good variety.

[schindlerpiste]

Big fan of Laphroaig which I see poking out there

There’s plenty of fantastic stuff to sip under $200. You are not hurting yourself with that cap.


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Laphoaig 18 is one of my favorites at just under a hundo. Have not seen it around these parts in a long time.

[Grange]

Last night, I got a little liquored up celebrating. I took a sip of that Bruichladdich Black Art and remembered Leo McGarry, "That's what I remember."

How is the Black Art? I saw a bottle for sale yesterday that was around $250, which is a good $120 off the normal price. I was tempted to buy it to celebrate getting my black belt in Arnis Jitsu, but decided against it since that's a lot of money.

[bennymac]

Laphoaig 18 is one of my favorites at just under a hundo. Have not seen it around these parts in a long time.

agreed! - that one for me hits the right balance between young peat and aged maturity and price - plus it just looks so classy

[tellybele]

Caol Ila has been my go-to for the last year or so. I usually have it neat or I'll add about 20% distilled water and rest my little glass on my sternum and enjoy the aroma between nips. I am an Islay fan through and through but the Orkneys deliver hella with the Scapa 12yr. You can taste the salty waves smacking the barnacled crags edging the island.

[evasive_MT]

Caol Ila has been my go-to for the last year or so. I usually have it neat or I'll add about 20% distilled water and rest my little glass on my sternum and enjoy the aroma between nips. I am an Islay fan through and through but the Orkneys deliver hella with the Scapa 12yr. You can taste the salty waves smacking the barnacled crags edging the island.

It’s a favorite of mine, too. I’m glad they started doing distillery bottles because it’s easier to find in a control state. I don’t see many Signatory or Gordon & MacPhail bottles here.

[tellybele]

It’s a favorite of mine, too. I’m glad they started doing distillery bottles because it’s easier to find in a control state. I don’t see many Signatory or Gordon & MacPhail bottles here.

Hhhmm, not sure if they have those at my local state store... I am due for another bottle. I was thinking about taking a trip on the river Spey to diversify...you have any Speyside recs?

[evasive_MT]

Hhhmm, not sure if they have those at my local state store... I am due for another bottle. I was thinking about taking a trip on the river Spey to diversify...you have any Speyside recs?

Mortlach, but it can be hard to find sometimes. It was my ex father-in-law’s favorite. It’s one of the more flavorful Speysides.

I don’t drink many Speysides but the Macallan 12 Double Cask I was gifted is really nice. And the Macallan 18 is a stone cold classic, if you’re willing to spend the money. The sherry note is huge. It makes me think of Sinatra, big Cadillacs, leather upholstery, and cigars.

[tellybele]

Thanks! Appreciate the descriptive note.

[schindlerpiste]

If you like notes of sherry that Balvenie is outstanding.

[Dee Hubbs]

If you like a Speyside finished in an Oloroso and Sherry casks? You can’t beat the Kirkland Signature Speyside 22 Year Old from Costco.
For $80 you can’t find one $ for $ that beats it.

[Grange]

I've got the 22 yr Kirkland. It is really good. It is so much darker in color than the 20 year old.

I recently picked up High West Campfire that has a peated scotch in the blend, which gives it a great flavor. I don't know which distillery supplied the scotch though.

[donutlynx]

Was out looking for the Laphroaig 18 and ended up with the quarter cask. Very peaty. I like it, but may like the 10 yr better.

Anything similar to the 18 yr that I can try?

[Woodsy]

Was out looking for the Laphroaig 18 and ended up with the quarter cask. Very peaty. I like it, but may like the 10 yr better.

Anything similar to the 18 yr that I can try?

Kilchoman Machir Bay is so good, almost all their expressions are delightful

[Hood26]

You're right though - the Corry is also amazing. And yes their marketing department has played a role in their success for sure.

The Ardbeg /Laphroig/Lagavulin distilleries are all within spitting distance of each other - that stretch of road is heaven on earth.

I was too purist for a while to buy NAS, but Ardbeg brought me around.

I haven't seen Cory on the shelf. I will have to keep looming. I might check the Oregon liquer inventory page and see if anyone out there has it.

Some of my standbys are Springbank 10, Laga 16, and Laphroag 10 Quarter (Red Stripe) and Glen Levit 12 I need to go shopping.

For those who like peet, but don't want a monster give the Upland distilleries a try. I have never had a bad bottle of Highland Park and Old Pultney 12 is a delight given it's price range. Oban is OK, but Pultney and HL 12 are better for cheaper and the Isley options way better for the money.

I have yet to ever spend more that $98 a bottle even though I have been tempted.

Malt Madness and Malt Maniacs are great sources of info. I belong to a FB for a while that led me onto good finds, but then it got overrun by the super wealthy who would rather argue about authenticates bottles of obscure and super expensive shit. It was like being in a regular Joe car club and having all the conversation dominated by the couple super car owners. That shit’s enough to even make a dentist say WTF

[Cruiser]

Kilchoman Machir Bay is so good, almost all their expressions are delightful

Couldn't agree more. They do everything in-house and it shows in the finished product for sure.

[evasive_MT]

For those who like peet, but don't want a monster give the Upland distilleries a try. I have never had a bad bottle of Highland Park and Old Pultney 12 is a delight given it's price range. Oban is OK, but Pultney and HL 12 are better for cheaper and the Isley options way better for the money.

While I think some lists include them the Highlands region, all those are coastal distilleries with maritime influence. Old Pultney has a fishing boat on the label. When I think upland, I think of Highlands distilleries like Dalwhinnie or Edradour that are farther inland and higher elevation.

[bennymac]

NAS scotch and age statement scotches are pretty much equally "engineered" in my opinion (single cask bottlings being the exception)

there is nothing *pure* about a single malt scotch with an age on it - it's still a blend of casks of varying ages with water and potentially other ingredients added before it goes in the bottle - this explains why every bottle of lagavulin 16 will taste the same from 2009 to now.

again - single cask releases (which of course will have an age on them) are an exception

all to say that NAS scotch should not be looked down upon - or bottles with age on them (Laphroig 10) shouldn't be put on a higher pedestal vs say Ardbeg Corry

[alembical]

For my money, the Balvenie 14 year Caribbean cask just cannot be beat. Likely a little too sweet for some, but my only issue is how drinkable it is.

[Hood26]

While I think some lists include them the Highlands region, all those are coastal distilleries with maritime influence. Old Pultney has a fishing boat on the label. When I think upland, I think of Highlands distilleries like Dalwhinnie or Edradour that are farther inland and higher elevation.

I will only point our that Highland Park very much so thinks of themselves as highland, and nfore this thread turns to an Upstate NY thread, I will conced to your point on micro geography because I agree.

Bennymac, I fully agree it just took me a while to figure it out. I was a bet meh on some of the first NAS that I had tried from Bowmore, Glenfidach, and Glenlivet thinking they were nothing more than marketing and fancy labellig, but I now know it can be done right. I would pick Glenlivet 12 for instance over Nadurra; however, I will take uigeadail over any Ardbeg that I could afford.

[bennymac]

Word.

The following is not directed at you storm hood:

The catch22 of scotch is that when a person is first trying them out to decide if they like scotch the temptation is to not spend too much - no sense spending $150+ on something they might not like.

The problem is that cheaper bottles are often the younger ones - which can be great don’t get me wrong but, in general, a highland park 21 is gonna be easier drinking than a highland park 12 - so, for someone just getting into scotch, the more expensive bottles are an easier entry.

Except it’s unlikely that a new scotch drinker is gonna start with a bottle that is 20+ years. So they taste the young scotch and are like “omg this is pure turpentine”

Add to that the reverence that peaty Islay scotches get (well deserved) from scotch fans - the newbies say oh I heard Laphroig is good I’ll just try this quarter cask...cue the fireball in their mouth and an uphill battle to convince them that it’s an acquired taste.