What did you drink last night?

by **Choochoo** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:04 pm

I got my first bottle of Bladnoch 2 weeks ago, a 1984/1995 Connoisseur ‘s Choice. Not sure where this ranks in the entire Bladnoch line, and I’ve never tried any other to compare it with, but I find it to be very light, flowery, and extremely subtle. I let friend’s sample it at a party last week, they all gave it an enthusiastic positive response, and wanted to know where they could get a bottle. They’re reaction was so good that they encouraged a few non-whisky drinking females to try a sip, and they all thought it was great too. It turned out to be the hit of the party. I ended up having to hide the bottle in my basement to make sure it wasn’t finished in one night, and brought out a $19 bottle of Auchentoshen Select to serve to the newly converted lowland enthusiasts.

Anyhoo, Last night I had a glass of Barbincort 5-star rum. It was a little harsh at first, but taking advice from the Ministry of Rum, I put two ice cubes in it, let it sit for 5 minutes, and it mellowed out & became quite nice.

Then had some Glen Scotia 14yo. It’s good, but I haven’t really figured out what is going on in it: light, somewhat oily, pine sap aroma, somewhat creamy.

Finished off the night with a Glanfarclas 12. One of my favorites, and the bottle is near empty. There’s a 17yo waiting to take it’s place, but that may not suffice and I could be tempted to get another 12yo soon.

by **Deactivated Member** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:32 pm

Tried an 11yo Signatory bottling of Ledaig - yes LEDAIG. It was OK but that's about it. It may be me, but I'm not sure about the burnt rubber notes in teh nose and finish. The whole dram seemed out of balance and I have to say I didn't finish it. I'd like to try the much heralded 15yo which I think is the expression to benchmark other Ledaigs. But at the moment, I'm not sold on them.
Moved instead to a Glenlivet 18yo. Wow - Bounty Bars (chocolate coated moist coconut bars) on the nose and immediately on taste. Nice smooth mouthfeel with no noticeable burn. I wonder if the previous dram on Ledaig influenced my palate!

by **hpulley** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:57 pm

I like to bring out Bladnoch when people say all scotch is the same. I pour a glass of Bladnoch and a glass of Ardbeg and if they can't tell the difference then I give up!

Harry

by **MGillespie** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 4:06 pm

The McDougall Bladnoch bottlings are primarily US-based...the way John put it the other night...Raymond Armstrong gave him the ability to sell the only distillery-approved US bottlings of Bladnoch to thank him for all of his help in getting the distillery back on line...

They're special-order in the PA state stores at about $120/bottle...

Mark

by **Frodo** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 6:08 pm

hpulley wrote:
Frodo wrote:Last night, I had the last of the Ardmore 1992 (Signatory NCF). At the end of the bottle, I found I quite liked it!

I'm sure you're aware that there are still $55-60 bottles of Ardmore on sale. Summerhill store still has plenty!

Harry

Actually, none left! A lot of the Signatory 8yr Mull though...

by **Frodo** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 6:12 pm

Crieftan wrote:Tried an 11yo Signatory bottling of Ledaig - yes LEDAIG. It was OK but that's about it... I'd like to try the much heralded 15yo which I think is the expression to benchmark other Ledaigs. But at the moment, I'm not sold on them.

Hi Crieften:

I highly recommend the 15yr Ledaig OB. If you like the 10yr Talisker, you'll like this.

by **Lawrence** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 6:44 pm

Last night was a club meeting and even though they are supposed to be sedate affairs the evening went a bit side ways, not only for me. I started off with the Arran Single Cask Port Finish, very good with just a bit of a bite to remind you it's whisky. With the meal we had Glen Garioch 15 which was really much better than the last time I had it a few years ago when it was dreadful, this was good and I was pleased to note the absence of any floral notes. This was followed by a Glenfarclas 17 but I couldn't taste much becasue I had foolishly had some homous and trashed my palate. After some emergency palate work we finished with Oban 14 DE which was really good. After that I followed on with another large Oban :roll:

and then just to make sure I was really on a roll, a large Aberlour A'bunadh. The meal was excellent.

by **Deactivated Member** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:24 pm

Frodo wrote:
Crieftan wrote:Tried an 11yo Signatory bottling of Ledaig - yes LEDAIG. It was OK but that's about it... I'd like to try the much heralded 15yo which I think is the expression to benchmark other Ledaigs. But at the moment, I'm not sold on them.

Hi Crieften:

I highly recommend the 15yr Ledaig OB. If you like the 10yr Talisker, you'll like this.

Frodo - Thanks for the recommendation. I think quite a few posters here rate the 15yo and they're not often wrong - if ever

I'll be sure to post my humble offerings once I've given it a blast.

by **Jan** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 8:17 pm

Thank you for your advice on Bladnoch all. Guess I'll bump this distillery up a few steps at my "buy in the future list".

Karlejnar, is this the Black faced sheep bottling you mean?

Cheers
Jan

by **hpulley** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 8:19 pm

Frodo wrote:
hpulley wrote:
Frodo wrote:Last night, I had the last of the Ardmore 1992 (Signatory NCF). At the end of the bottle, I found I quite liked it!

I'm sure you're aware that there are still $55-60 bottles of Ardmore on sale. Summerhill store still has plenty!

Harry

Actually, none left! A lot of the Signatory 8yr Mull though...

Sorry for the wild goose chase; the database must be wrong (again).

Harry

by **karlejnar** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:41 pm

Jan wrote:Karlejnar, is this the Black faced sheep bottling you mean?

Yes - that's the one - but actually there are quite a few different one's out there. Every Sheep (and Beltie) are single cask bottlings.

So the one I've seen in DK is 16yo - most likely a 1988 hogshead.

The one's I bought at Bladnoch in 2004 and 2005 are:
15yo - 1988 from a hogshead - bottled 2004
15yo - 1990 from a fresh barrel - bottled 2005 (actually hand-bottled at the distillery by myself)
15yo - 1990 from another barrel - half-bottles (hand-bottled by John Herries at Bladnoch)

by **Frodo** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 12:55 am

hpulley wrote:
Frodo wrote:
hpulley wrote:
Frodo wrote:Last night, I had the last of the Ardmore 1992 (Signatory NCF). At the end of the bottle, I found I quite liked it!

I'm sure you're aware that there are still $55-60 bottles of Ardmore on sale. Summerhill store still has plenty!

Harry

Actually, none left! A lot of the Signatory 8yr Mull though...

Sorry for the wild goose chase; the database must be wrong (again).

Harry

I think what happened was that often places with surplus sale stock send it over to a warehouse near Weston Rd, and Eglington and it's probably en route now.

by **hpulley** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 12:27 pm

Last night I had some Ardbeg 10yo with some filet of sole and later some Lagavulin 12yo CS with water which improves it quite a bit (not just a drop, a fair bit).

Harry

by **irishwhiskeychaser** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:49 pm

Last night I had my 3rd attempt at my new Balvenie 12yo Double Wood. I opened this last week and was not overly impressed. I gave it a bit of time but there is still no spark in it for me. Maybe I need to leave it longer... hhmmm I'll see :roll:

I had heard alot about Balvenie and people recomended this as a good easy drinking whisky. My problem is that I barely reckonise this as a whisky as it is too smooth and creamy and any bit of kick seems to be totally smothered. Therefore rendering it as near to boring sa I have come across.

This must be one of my biggest dissappointments in SMW so far. I would gladly recomend a run of the mill irish blend over this any day. This may be a good starting malt for some but as a regular whiskey drinker I feel this offers me nothing.

Am I missing something here... I have tried the Auchentoshan 3 wood also which in my opinion has a far superior taste. Just because a whisky is easy drinking should not mean it is deviod of taste and charachter.

Anybody agree or disagree ?????

by **bamber** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:56 pm

I wholeheartedly agree. IMHO, the 10yo is in a different league, but I also don't care for the Auchentoshan 3 wood.

by **Alec** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:10 pm

I agree with you IWC on the Double Wood. The sherry obliterates everything else and makes it too smooth and sweet in my humble opinion.

by **irishwhiskeychaser** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:16 pm

bamber wrote:I wholeheartedly agree. IMHO, the 10yo is in a different league, but I also don't care for the Auchentoshan 3 wood.

Alec wrote:I agree with you IWC on the Double Wood. The sherry obliterates everything else and makes it too smooth and sweet in my humble opinion.

I love my smooth sherried whiskies but this just did not rock my boat :wink:

Had to fall back on a Talisker 10 just to remind that I was drinking SMW and give me a kick start :lol:

So far one of my favs ... talk about an explosion of sweetness with peppery spiceyness just yummy.

by **Choochoo** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:20 pm

HOW DARE YOU SPEAK ILL OF BALVENIE!! :twisted:

Just kidding - Agreed on the Balvenie 12, while not horrible, I do find it quite uninteresting. It also seems to degrade further the longer it sits in the bottle after opening. The 10 & 15yo do offer more character & lack the off-sweetness that I find particularly unappealing in the 12. A number of people I know like the 12 very much, but from now on I’ll be going with the 10 or 15. Also, had a sample of the 25yo a few months back & it was very high quality stuff.

by **bamber** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:37 pm

I like the 15yo too. IMO Balvenie is best served nude.

Talisker 10yo .... Everybody loves it - especially me

by **Alec** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:39 pm

I don't dislike the 12 YO Doublewood, I just don't find it very interesting. I like sherried whiskies too (possibly my favourite taste), but has to have some added spice to it!

by **irishwhiskeychaser** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:30 pm

Alec wrote:I don't dislike the 12 YO Doublewood, I just don't find it very interesting. I like sherried whiskies too (possibly my favourite taste), but has to have some added spice to it!

I'm that way inclined too, put it this way, I won't be throwing it down the sink... I think I may have built up my expectations too much. Must give the 10 or 15 a go. I went for the 12 thinking it would be a nice in between age but I made the mistake of not refering to my Whisky Bible which I only did today for some strange reason. Don't know why it slipped by me. Anyway JM did not really rate the 12yo while praising the 10 & 15.

Ah well live and learn.

by **MGillespie** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:49 pm

Tried too many whiskies at Whisky Live NY last night to recall all of them...didn't write things down, but here are a few standouts...

As long as we're talking about Balvenie...the brand-new 17YO New Wood limited release will be coming out next week, and they were pouring it last night. This has all of the Balvenie's usual excellence, along with an extra kick of flavor from the new wood (oak casks not previously used for bourbon). Those casks have been soaked in water and charred to mellow the influence just a bit...

Kings Crest 25 YO blend: This comes from Speyside Distillers, and it's a blend of old Glenlivet and North of Scotland grain whisky...this is very smooth and well-balanced, and will be hitting stores soon.

Duncan Taylor's new 38YO blend is on the boat now, but Euan Shand brought one bottle over with him for the early arrivals...this is an amazing blend with 75% malts (and the distilleries that they came from are listed on the bottle).

Bunnahabhain 18 and 25 will be released in the next couple of weeks...the 18 has more of a sherry influence, while the 25 is just like the Bunnahabhain 12 in oakiness...just mellowed with more aging...

Also had a Scott's Selection Glen Mhor (I believe from 1978)...excellent!
Also a Yamazaki 18 from Suntory...my first experience with Japanese single malt...and it was also excellent!

On the US front...tried a George Dickel #12...has all of the excellent bourbon notes...but the charcoal filtering makes it really smooth!

Mark

by **Frodo** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:34 pm

irishwhiskeychaser wrote:I had heard alot about Balvenie and people recomended this as a good easy drinking whisky. My problem is that I barely reckonise this as a whisky as it is too smooth and creamy and any bit of kick seems to be totally smothered. Therefore rendering it as near to boring sa I have come across.

Am I missing something here... I have tried the Auchentoshan 3 wood also which in my opinion has a far superior taste. Just because a whisky is easy drinking should not mean it is deviod of taste and charachter.

Anybody agree or disagree ?????

Hi IWC:

I think it depends on your baseline for "character". I suspect some people think that unless something comes through loud and clear, it doesn't speak to them. And I need to admit that extreme subtle doesn't do it for me at this stage of my journey.

Re: Balvenie, the expressions that I've liked best are the finishes (Doublewood and Portwood) and I felt the same way about the Bushmills malts I've tried. How you feel about the Balvenie 12, I feel about the 10. I find the 12 having alot of flavour - not aggressive mind you, but significant.

I agree that whisky should not be "devoid of taste and character". I also think that's subjective. For example, I think the DW has more than enough taste and character to justify it's $60 price tag at the LCBO. I don't say that about many whiskies...

Not only do I like this whisky, I would have no quams recommending it to anyone - novice or hardened enthusiest alike. It's interesting that this whisky didn't do it for you. It did win the Malt Maniac's award for "best well-priced, easiest-to-get malt" or some such, so someone likes it.

On the other hand, you woudn't be the first whisky fan to wonder what all the fuss about a highly touted whisky is about. I've been wondering about the hubbub surrounding Bunnahabhain for some time. And although I see why people would like Black Bush, I regard it the same way you seem to find DW - smooth, creamy, booring. I can't figure out why people wouldn't go for Redbreast 12, or Jamison 12 at the same price!

BTW, I can see why Auchantoshan 3 Wood could be considered as having superior taste. I like it - miles above the 10yr IMO. Not so sure about its price tag though...

by **hpulley** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:52 pm

I liked the DoubleWood but it gives me a headache, not from overindulgence but something in it. The 15yo is my preferred vintage of The Balvenie.

Harry

by **Lawrence** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 6:22 pm

If I have a choice between the 10 and the 12 I always go for the 10 these days and have stocked up on the 10 in preperation for it's departure from the market. The other very good one is the 1991 Port Wood, another limitied edtion, so to speak.

Last night a Teachers Highland Cream followed by an Aberlour 10.

by **Photon** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 7:53 pm

I slightly prefer the 10 to the 12 (more honey comes through in the 10), but still like the 12 a lot.

Last night, a large Speyburn 10 followed by a small Lagavullin. Talk about contrasts.

-P.

by **irishwhiskeychaser** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:14 pm

Frodo wrote:I think it depends on your baseline for "character". I suspect some people think that unless something comes through loud and clear, it doesn't speak to them. And I need to admit that extreme subtle doesn't do it for me at this stage of my journey.....

..... And although I see why people would like Black Bush, I regard it the same way you seem to find DW - smooth, creamy, booring. I can't figure out why people wouldn't go for Redbreast 12, or Jamison 12 at the same price!

Asyou say it is totally subjective ... quite funny really as I love Blackbush but agree the Redbreast 12 & Jemmie 12 are better ...

It's all down to enjoying what you enjoy and being happy with it...

by **karlejnar** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:53 pm

Last night during the "Spirit of Islay" chat I had 3 nice Bladnoch's. Well just because I was in the "Lowland" mood :wink:

"Belted Galloway" 13yo cask strength - (from a barrel I'm told)

"Black Faced Sheep" 15yo 1988 hogshead - bottled 2004

"Black Faced Sheep" 15yo 03.07.1990 barrel - handbottled 12.07.2005 (by me

)

3 Bladnoch's with a lot in common but with some different notes as well

by **Deactivated Member** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 1:23 am

bamber wrote:I like the 15yo too. IMO Balvenie is best served nude.

Depends who's serving....

iwc, I can't say you're wrong. Both the 10 and the 12 are pretty light in my book--very pleasant whiskies, good introductory stuff, I'd never turn one down; but I think your reaction is quite understandable. The 15 is another story.

Interesting that so many here prefer the 10--sales of that have apparently lagged so much, and the 12 has been so popular, that the 10 is being dropped in many markets to assure availability of the 12.

by **hpulley** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 3:25 am

Had another dram of '92 CS Bladnoch while in the garden and then BBQing some burgers here in the 1st week of a mild April. Love that whisky's nose in the outdoors.

Harry

by **Deactivated Member** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 3:37 am

It's mild there? I'm looking forward to that getting here. It has been quite brisk, and yesterday morning we had a good hard snow! It melted by afternoon. In any case, good weather for finishing off my bottle of Uigeadail.

by **parvus** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 3:45 am

I tend to agree for the most part with the comments on the Balvenie 12. I find it particularly weak and watery at 40%, it just lacks any sort of depth of flavour to it. There are a few potentially interesting things going on, but they just drift in and out too quickly for it to be worthwhile. As others have said, I too prefer the 10 FR, it has a much more lively character to it.

by **hpulley** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 4:05 am

MrTattieHeid wrote:It's mild there? I'm looking forward to that getting here. It has been quite brisk, and yesterday morning we had a good hard snow! It melted by afternoon. In any case, good weather for finishing off my bottle of Uigeadail.

It snowed here too yesterday but was back up to 13C and sunny today. I had islays yesterday and lowland and highlands today, though I won't be putting my Ardbeg away for the summer I'm pretty sure my Laga will be gone before then and my Laphroaig Quarter Cask isn't as enjoyable right now as it was so I am giving that one a rest.

Harry

by **toshie** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:20 am

Two drams of Bowmore - trying to finish it off. I must confess I have seriously gone off this; it simply does nothing for me

by **zhi** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:43 am

to be honest, balvenie 12yo DW tastes like a very beautiful cognac to me with little bit of peat and malt in the background. and that is a very good thing as far as i am concerned.

But i can see why a lot of the opinions here tend to talk balvenie down a little bit. IMO, it is too gentle compared to some of the more robust whiskies which deliver flavours head on. But this is the way speysiders are known for.

interestingly, one night, after having a bit of talisker 10yo OB, balvenie 12yo tasted like rubber in the very unpleasant sense. but it had never happened before and has not since.