Whisky party tips

[slaine]

Evening all,

I've arranged a whisky tasting evening this weekend for a few friend. I'm keen to introduce them to some nice single malts. Some of them know a few whiskies, others not so many.

I'm very much an Islay man so far, and my collection (growing at 25 bottles) reflects that, so it makes sense to have an Islay theme going on.

I'm thinking of going with 5 or 6 bottles at the moment, and keeping to more standard expressions; i've got some pricier ones (Uigedail, Airigh Nam Beist etc), which I want to save for a special occasion, but plenty of more standard bottles to pick from.

Would be interested in thoughts on the below selection:

1) Caol Ila 12yo
2) Highland Park 12
3) Lagavulin 16
4) Ardbeg 12
5) Laphroaig 10 (and maybe QC too)
6) Talisker 10

I've got Jura (Origins and Superstition) too, but thought the above would be a good introduction to Islay!

Any thoughts on selection? Order to drink them etc?

I'm going to do a couple of printed-out sheets for each whisky, covered in descriptive words (which I can glean from many online whisky reviews) so folks can circle the words that describe that whisky to them. Could be interesting to see how similar they get, or not - depending on peoples tastes I guess!

Thanks in advance!

[lockejn]

What if your guests don't much care for the peaty profile?

Beyond that concern, this is how I'd order the selections presented:

Highland Park 12
Talisker 10
Caol Ila 12
Lagavulin 16
Laphroaig 10/QC
Ardbeg 12

[slaine]

What if your guests don't much care for the peaty profile?

A good point! The answer being that they're all partial to the peat luckily (as my few non-peated whiskies have just about run out - Yamazaki & Balvenie). Also, my whisky tasting, my rules

Thanks for tips on ordering! I'd only given cursory thoughts to it before, but what you've suggested looks good! I've not tried the CI12 myeslf yet; my only CI experience was a 25yo Bladnoch bottling I got a few months back which was gorgeous. Got another one upopened that I'm saving, but guessing the 12 is a bit punchier.

Thanks!

[bredman]

I'd agree with Locke's arrangement. I find the Laphroaig 10 to be a relative weakling these days so would perhaps swap with the Laga. But i wouldn't swap the QC. I assume you mean the Ardbeg 10 btw.

Slaine, i remember recommending the Bladnoch Forum Bottlings to you, pleased to see you had some success. I can readily recommend the current Mannochmore 28yo as excellent, also the Bladnoch 20 52.9% and the Bladnoch 9 Lightly Peated. There are roumours circulating that they may be bought out in the near future, so the days may be numbered for these cheap bottlings.

[bredman]

Oh, enjoy your evening and let us know how it goes.

[Ganga]

I know many of those whiskies have been reviewed on this site. I'm sure you could get many descriptors right here.

[mikeymad]

4) Ardbeg 12 ??

[Ganga]

In this thread: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=13856&start=0

You can find notes on HP 12, CI 12, Talisker 10, Ardbeg 10, Laphroaig 10. With the HP and the Ardbeg there are multiple sets of notes.

[Ganga]

With the Lagavulin 16, my experience shows that the various bottlings have variances. Recollections of smoke, earthiness, big sherry character (caramel, sweetnees).

I do recommend looking up some notes on this one and it should be several. The variousl batches do very on the sherry influence.

[slaine]

Cheers for the heads up on the other Bladnoch bottlings, bredman! I'll swing by and have a look at them. Sound good though. I know what you mean about the standard Laphroaig; at 40% it just doesn't have the oomph of the QC, but when I first tried the standard 10 it blew my socks off!

To those who noticed my, er, deliberate mistake I did, of course, mean Ardbeg 10. I'm not party (alas) to any secret 12 year expressions!

Thanks for the link to the reviews Ganga; some good descriptions there, should be really useful. I'll have a good around for some more Lagavulin ones.

Looking forward to Saturday, cheers again!

[Ganga]

glad to help out. On our side of the pond the Lap 10 is 43%.