Smoked Whisky?

[Waynne]

I do not claim to be a whisky conosour by any means. I've had a good deal of various types of whisky in the states but then I traveled to Sweden for two weeks and the dad of the one girl I was with gave me "smoked" whisky and I really enjoyed it, a lot more so than regular whisky. The problem is, one his english was not good at all, so I don't really know if that is what he ment, two, I do not know anything about it, and finally three, I went into a few stores and asked if they had any smoked whiskys and they looked at me like I was insane.
I did some research and it sounds like Islay produces a whisky that sounds like it has a smoked flavor. I'm not sure if this is the only area it is distilled in.
The whisky definitly tasted like it was smoked or like I was camping so I'll leave this up to you guys, the whisky experts to guide me to where I should be looking for this stuff, since I would really like to try it again.

[Deactivated Member]

If you like a pure smoke flavour, try Lagavulin. If you like some salty, seaweedy or medicinal flavour with the smoke, try Laphroaig or Ardbeg.

[lexvo]

I agree with Nick: try Lagavulin 16Y or Ardbeg as these are considered the most smokey whiskies. I find Ardbeg 10Y even smokier than Lagavulin 16Y. Laphroaig is also smokey, but IMHO not as much as the other two.

[Deactivated Member]

I agree with Nick: try Lagavulin 16Y or Ardbeg as these are considered the most smokey whiskies. I find Ardbeg 10Y even smokier than Lagavulin 16Y. Laphroaig is also smokey, but IMHO not as much as the other two.

I think Lagavulin is the smokiest of these. The others are more pungent, but that is not the same thing.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

.......... I went into a few stores and asked if they had any smoked whiskys and they looked at me like I was insane..........

Sorry for laughing Wayne but that is funny.... oh ya and welcome.

....but in all fairness the store attendants if they knew anything should of known what you were on about. What you are refering to is peated whisky where the malt used for the whisky has been dried over a peat fire thus instilling the flavour of peat and smoke and what the guys above say is a great start to these great whiskies. Islay is the epitomy of this.

Remember that you are not used to smokey and peated whisky so what you were given may not of been a highly peated whisky (but I reckon it was) so go for it and have fun. I reckon the Lagavulin 16, as it is smoother and sweeter (to me). But there is a multitude of peated single malts and blends out there to chose from.

[Waynne]

Thanks for clearing all that up. I'm off to go try some out. It was definitly very smoked, where my other friends who drank a lot more whisky in their time than myself were suprised how present it was.

[parvus]

I couldn't help but think of bottles hanging on racks inside a smoke house when I read your post. Welcome to the boards.

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

welcome Waynne. I admit that I smiled when I read about the smoked whisky but this description is a good one actually. Lagavulin Ardbeg and Laphroaig were mentioned already and they do come from the island of Islay which is famous for the peated and smokey whiskies they produce.
Not wanting to critisize my friends here I find it nonetheless typical that the three above mentioned whiskies were named and the most smokey and a bit lesser peated Islay malt was omitted. Caol Ila.
Caol Ila is the biggest and most modern distillery on Islay and always stands a bit in the shadow of those three whiskies from the south coast of Islay. But IMO Caol Ila is the whisky which has the most smoked flavours.

What ever you decide on enjoy!

Greetings
kallaskander

[Deactivated Member]

Is Caol Ila really smokier than Lagavulin? I would say it is more medicinal, but less so than Laphroaig. I think there is a difference between smoky and peaty-pungent.

[Bullie]

Don't forget about the non-islay smokers. There are Talisker, Ardmore, BenRiach etc etc...

[Deactivated Member]

Indeed, but from the point of view of a novice, Ardmore is likely to be difficult to track down and most Benriachs are not peated. One could also have mentioned Ledaig - which I find the most purely smoky whisky (although I haven't tried peated Benriach or some of the other recent additions to the peaty list).

Although Talisker clearly has peat, I think there is far more flavours at play so I would be inclined to recommend it more to fans of the pungent whiskies (e.g. Laphroaig, Bowmore and Ardbeg) than fans of a smoky flavour. Having said that , the Whisky Shop's Fiskavaig (old Talisker at £100 a bottle) has the most enormous smoke finish.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

And of course do not over look Connemara Irish peated whiskies.




Also nice and smokey but probably more sweetness than you islay big guns. They are also lovey drams. The regular or Cask strength for value for money in that line.

[Mr Fjeld]

Welcome to the forum Wayne! There are a lot of good suggestions in this thread but there are also the so called "mystery malts" to consider. They are single malts but bottled by independant bottlers. They are very often young malts but cheap and can offer a lot of quality for lesser money.
I'd recommend "Smokehead" from Ian Macleod Distillers which has been given great reviews on this forum. I like it a lot! :



Christian

[dram_time]

Hey, thats a great idea. I smoke things for a living, i'm going to see if I can talk the boss into trying to smoke some Whisky

I will have to carry out lots of taste trials, before and after.

Dt

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

dram_time would you happen to have a smoked Mars bar????

Greetings
kallaskander

[Aidan]

I recently got a smoker, but it had no instructions. I'm keen to get smoking straight away.

Can you use those mini smokers indoors?

[Deactivated Member]

Peated whisky is really already a smoked product - the barley is smoked at the malting stage.

[Aidan]

Peated whisky is really already a smoked product - the barley is smoked at the malting stage.

I was thinking of fish or poultry, rather than whisky.

What's the rule on bringing smokers on a plane?

[kallaskander]

Hi there.

it´s a no go! And with this enough of jokes with a very seroius background.

Greetings
kallaskander

[irishwhiskeychaser]

What's the rule on bringing smokers on a plane?

As far as I know people with smoking habits are not banned yet ....

..... just as long as they don't light up

[dram_time]

Hi there,

dram_time would you happen to have a smoked Mars bar????

Greetings
kallaskander

Now thats funny , allthough i would say a smoked Mars bar is way to healthy !!!!!!!


cheers kallaskander,


Aidan... I wouldn't recomend using your mini smoker indoors !!


Dt.

[Aidan]

Dram_time, what if I only used half the amount of deisel?

[dram_time]

Dram_time, what if I only used half the amount of deisel?

Just use Petrol, Gives a better finish.

Dt

[Mr Fjeld]

Dram_time, what if I only used half the amount of deisel?

Just use Petrol, Gives a better finish.

Dt

Well, certain german Rieslings can have "petroleum-like" scent in the bouquet so why not whisky

Christian

[Deactivated Member]

Yesterday my bottle of Croftengea OB 45% 9 year old single (bottle 326 of 380) cask peated malt arrived, the bottle had leaked slightly during transit and an ounce was missing so I dove right in to save the rest of the bottle. My G*d, what a rip snorting kick in the pants peaty sherried whisky for only 9 years old. Huge peat, sherry and an oily diesel like taste that fills your mouth and stays there for for over an hour. It's the longest finish on a whisky that I have ever had. A true delight and I'm going to order another one!

"What did you drink last night", p 173

[dram_time]

All joking aside, it would be possible to ‘smoke’ a whisky. We ‘peat smoke’ salmon up here, and very nice it is too. Makes the whole place stink for days, smells like a thousand fine cigars have been consumed !!!

So, maybe one day I will try ‘peat smoking’ some already peaty Islay malt for a laugh.

Dt

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

probably you could hang a porous bottle in the smoke.

Greetings
kallaskander

[Mr Fjeld]

.....or pour liquid phenols into a whisky and see the result...........or just buy a bottle of Laphroaig

Christian

[Redd]

And of course do not over look Connemara Irish peated whiskies.

Also nice and smokey but probably more sweetness than you islay big guns. They are also lovey drams. The regular or Cask strength for value for money in that line.

Just stumbled across this topic when searching through Google. I was in Dublin recently and was in one of their pubs with a fantastic whiskey selection. I'm not much of a whiskey drinker myself, but since we are were there, it was a case of "when in Rome"...
so i told the barman that in my limited tastes of whiskey, the only one i quite enjoyed was Glenmorangie due to its smoothness. So i asked the bartender if he could reccomend me one which i might also enjoy, but am unlikely to see much of. I couldn't however remember the name of it, only the smoked flavour, so have been just whacking various search terms through different engines and then i came across this! And this is it!
I'm now going to go and see if i can order a bottle of it from somewhere. I'd reccomend this drink to all, whiskey and non-whiskey drinkers alike.

[The Fachan]

Does adding peaty(smoky) water to the mash count in the way Chivas did in the 70's to create Craigduff and Glenisla?

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Does adding peaty(smoky) water to the mash count in the way Chivas did in the 70's to create Craigduff and Glenisla?

Only if you can taste it

Many believe that this method does not really affect the taste as technically it will be distilled out. It is thought there may be faint traces but not enough to make it a proper peated whisky.