Why do we ignore/not drink Strathisla 12 OB 43%???

[Lawrence]

Why do we ignore/not drink Strathisla 12 OB 43%???

Why is this so? I was going through my list of whiskies yesterday and saw the Strathisla 12 and started to think, how come it's never (or very rarely) discussed on the forum? I bought another bottle today and opened it, pleasing color, dusky gold, very nice to the eye; the nose is sweet with hints of peat; the taste is again sweet with malt and a slight background of peat (in a Speysider!!!) and a decently long warming finish with a bit more smoke and malt waving at you as it vanishes down your throat. It's very nice and well priced.

A friendship renewed.

[Admiral]

Maybe because it's reasonably common?

And yet, at the same time, Chivas Bros have reduced its status, at least relative to other distilleries in their portfolio that receive greater promotion.

I've always considered it to be a good, everyday quaffing malt. I've served it blind at a few tastings I've run, and it's always amused me how participants give it reasonably positive & glowing comments, and then their faces drop when I unveil it!

But I think you're right....sometimes we focus too much on the special drams, and we neglect the real workhorses of the industry.

Cheers,
ADmiral

[les taylor]

Now where's my shopping list!

[corbuso]

Why do we ignore/not drink Strathisla 12 OB 43%???

Why is this so? I was going through my list of whiskies yesterday and saw the Strathisla 12 and started to think, how come it's never (or very rarely) discussed on the forum? I bought another bottle today and opened it, pleasing color, dusky gold, very nice to the eye; the nose is sweet with hints of peat; the taste is again sweet with malt and a slight background of peat (in a Speysider!!!) and a decently long warming finish with a bit more smoke and malt waving at you as it vanishes down your throat. It's very nice and well priced.

A friendship renewed.

As mentioned by Admiral, it is not promoted by Chivas. The same thing for Longmorn is true. Strathisla offers a very good price/quality ratio and it has a pleasant flavour profile. Many old sherry Stratishla are excellent, but almost exclusively sold by G&M.

corbuso
..........
http://www.whisky-news.com

[Drrich1965]

Here are my notes for the Strathisla from two years ago. 80 is reccomendable. Its a malt I missed.


80 Sm Strathisla 12yo (43%, OB, circa 2004) The last sip of the bottle, so perhaps some tasking notes are finally in order. I have had this one for a year, and have already scored it. These notes do reflect an aging bottle, but the score is form an earlier time. Nose. Spiced cookies, some hints of sherry. Mouth: Spicy and dry, moving into a long peppery finish. A dram that is a "full experience" if that makes sense. Seems like this might be a good one for someone moving from blends to single malts. Almost like an intense, flavorful blend, if this makes any sense. Perhaps this is because its one flaw might be some graininess through the middle. The score I gave it months ago seems right. A bit of peat in the middle, malt towards the end. A good, solid malt.

[lbacha]

It's not available in Ohio is my excuse, I do like the malt and have had is quite a few times, I've even visited the distillery twice (Which I think is a must for anyone in Speyside). My guess on the lack of discussion on the site is the lack of special bottlings, it seems the forum likes to focus on the special stuff with only a select few standard OB bottlings being discussed.





Len

[Paul A Jellis]

It's not ignored by me, there is a bottle in the cupboard right now. It's a very good malt for the price.

[Iain]

I like it too. But it's not heavily promoted by Chivas (who prefer to put most of their standard sms promotional muscle behind The Glenlvet 12), I don't think it's exported to many markets (and if so, only in small quantities) and it doesn't seem to appear on supermarket shelves in the UK.

It was once a team member on the Seagram-era "Heritage Selection" with Benriach, Longmorn and Glen Keith, but that poorly-marketed rival to the Classic 6 died a death many years ago.

[vitara7]

its not promoted that much for two main reasons, the first being they have glenlivet and wouldnt want to step on its toes so to put i. the other is a lot of it does go into their blends, they have no need nor want to have a massive markiting campain for it.

[peergynt323]

Maybe because this is the first tiem anyone has recommended it. I'll have to pick one up. They are plentiful and economically priced.

[DramMeister]

I've only had one experience of it, a few years ago in a lovely Lake District pub - (Britannia Inn at Elterwater if you know it). I found it a little spirity and I've never been interested in having another since.
But with your recommendation Lawrence, I'll give it another go.

[Nock]

Not available here in Washington State

[Mustardhead]

Just not one of those malts which is seen around much. It's on my list of malts I want to try but I've never seen or heard it mentioned before.

[Ann-Helen]

Because it`s no good
I have to say I didn`t like it the first time but maybe I should try it again who knows maybe I`ll become friends with it.

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

it was not available at its own distillery shop some yeas ago. The Home of Chivas Regal sold only Chivas Regal. The work men at the distillery were not too happy with that when I was there.
Anyway you can buy it there again now and a friend of mine just returned from Scotland told me that the new bottlings have picked up compared to a few years ago and he was surprised how good the Strathisla 12 yo was acutally.
As we have heard Chivas is bringing out a new Longmorn 16 yo 48% non chill-filtered although a bit boomish in price. Who knows, probably they will help and promote the Strathisla more from now on, too.

Greetings
kallaskander

[Lawrence]

These are really interesting comments, I had some drams from an older 'paper label' Strathisla a number of years ago, Admiral and I talked about it on this forum. It was very good, lots more sherry than today I expect.

I think it did go down hill for a while (it's eye opening to see this happend to so many different whiskies) but has now come back full force but with a bit more active ex-American casks offering a little bit more on the spicy side. It did benefit from a drop or two of water. I scored it in the mid 80's at 85 which is a decent score especially for the price.

[Wave]

I've had a bottle or two of the Stathisla 12 in years past, it's a decent enough malt and still quite readily available around my area. My tastes have since gone to the older expressions of Strathisla.


Cheers!

[Iain]

Gordon & MacPhail have bottled a fantastic range of old Strathislas in the past. They seem to have bought up large parcels over the years.

Not sure if Chivas still sell casks to them directly, though.

[Scotchio]

Has anyone tried the Coopers Choice 1969 36 yr old bottling that JM was gushing about?

[Admiral]

One of the oldest malts I've been privileged to taste was a 50yo 1948 G+M Strathisla.

A very pleasant drop indeed, and it certainly didn't show its age.

Cheers,
ADmiral

[bjorn]

Well, it's certainly gone from my long list of 'malts to try' to the short list
Thanks Lawrence!

[mithril]

These are really interesting comments, I had some drams from an older 'paper label' Strathisla a number of years ago, Admiral and I talked about it on this forum. It was very good, lots more sherry than today I expect.

I think it did go down hill for a while (it's eye opening to see this happend to so many different whiskies) but has now come back full force but with a bit more active ex-American casks offering a little bit more on the spicy side. It did benefit from a drop or two of water. I scored it in the mid 80's at 85 which is a decent score especially for the price.

I'd agree. This thread intrigued me into making a run to the BCLC and picking up a bottle a couple days ago. It's very much like Longmorn just with a bit sweeter with more smoke and something else I just can't put my finger on. Very easy drinking dram and at only $50 per bottle this is a great choice as a gift whisky for someone who's not a big scotch drinker/just getting into it/you don't know their tastes. I'd certainly be happy enough to receive it as a gift

[MGillespie]

Picked up a bottle of Strathisla a couple of years ago, and was very sad when I finished off the last dram. Have had a hard time finding it since then...but it's one I really should try to track down.

Mark

[Mr Ellen]

It's not ignored at all. At least, not by me. I think it's a great example of Speyside whisky and I always have a bottle in my cupboard. I think it's one of those whiskies which not attracts too much attention and get's lost while we're to occupied talking about Ardbeg this and Laphroaig that. Too many people seem to ignore that there are other whisky producing regions than Islay (at least here on the Forum).
It's a great whisky with lots of flavours. I particularly like the cocoa/vanilla finish.
And if you don't fancy the 12 year old you can do real bargains when buying 30 year old Strathisla's at the same price as a regular 12 year old Lagavulin.
From my point of view, Strathisla 12y. old is a must in every collection...

Cheers
___________________
Anders

[shoganai]

I had a bottle of Strathisla 12 last summer and really enjoyed it. Another great value that I'm upset the PA-liquor-nazi's took off their supply list.

I actually just got through a bottle of a Signatory 1987 17 cask strength and really enjoyed that too. Another great value at around $45. I'd rank it only slightly behind the Glenlivet Nadurra (which says a lot because I really really love the Nadurra).

[Lawrence]

It's not ignored at all. At least, not by me. I think it's a great example of Speyside whisky and I always have a bottle in my cupboard. I think it's one of those whiskies which not attracts too much attention and get's lost while we're to occupied talking about Ardbeg this and Laphroaig that. Too many people seem to ignore that there are other whisky producing regions than Islay (at least here on the Forum).
It's a great whisky with lots of flavours. I particularly like the cocoa/vanilla finish.
And if you don't fancy the 12 year old you can do real bargains when buying 30 year old Strathisla's at the same price as a regular 12 year old Lagavulin.
From my point of view, Strathisla 12y. old is a must in every collection...

Cheers



___________________
Anders

Glad to read your comments Anders, I am once again enjoying a bottle of Strathisla 12 and have tasted quite a few older bottling, I'll search out more in the future. I also agee with your comments on Ardbeg & Laphroaig.

Lawrence

[Admiral]

As just posted elsewhere in the forums here, last night I served up some Johnnie Walker Green Label to a bunch of malt enthusiasts. It was served blind, and their task was to try and guess the whisky's identity. (It was a bit cheeky of me, because they were obviously expecting a single malt, not a vatted malt).

Interestingly, two at the table suggested the whisky was Strathisla!

(No one guessed it correctly, although one gent thought it was Cragganmore, which was a pretty impressive stab given that Cragganmore is the main component malt of JW Green).

Cheers,
ADmiral