Trying a new Scotch this morning...

[vvvvvvv]

Those Islays are SMOKY. I like a little of it once in a while, but I am not a smoky Scotch kind of guy. I have a bit of Bowmore left and almost a whole bottle of Laphroig I can get into when I am out of everything else. lol

Laphroaig is at the bottom of my list of Islays. Caol Ila 12 is at the top, with Lagavulin 16 a close second. I prefer the aftertaste of Caol Ila for a casual drink (possibly while maintaining the Ballmer Peak), while Lagavulin is a pretty good companion for most medium-bodied cigars.

There's a very wide range of peatiness in the Islays, and it all depends on taste buds. Everyone I know that gravitates toward Caol Ila stays away from Laphroaig and vice versa. Laphroaig is probably the smokiest Scotch available.

How's Auchentoshen? I've been wanting to try it based on reviews via Google, but not sure if I need to ask the local beverage dealer to order a case or not. (Since I know how those reviews work, I kind of take reviews on review sites with a grain of salt.)

 

[vvvvvvv]

I am not a regular Scotch drinker, but quality seems to vary more in Scotches than about any other booze that I know of. Some Scott was once quoted as saying something like "It's nae the taste mon, but the effect!"

Like fine wine, it can even vary barrel to barrel and malt to malt. To me, that's part of the experience of single barrel and single malt Bourbon and Scotch (I drink both on a regular basis, both neat, and of course separate). Sometimes, a bottle just seems to have something extra special, and next thing you know you're tracking down other bottles from the same batch.

A guide when I want to try something new on impulse and don't have any trusted recommendations available is to look for the one that didn't catch my eye on the shelf. The theory is if you have to package a single malt Scotch to sell it, you're probably making the Scotch wrong.

 

[tRidiot]

I do have a bottle of White Horse Scotch that was bottled in the late 50's that has been unopened. Wondering what it may taste like. Thanks for the info.

It'll taste the same as it did when it was bottled. All flavor maturation stops when removed from the cask and bottled.

How's Auchentoshen? I've been wanting to try it based on reviews via Google, but not sure if I need to ask the local beverage dealer to order a case or not. (Since I know how those reviews work, I kind of take reviews on review sites with a grain of salt.)

If you're a Caol Ila and Lagavulin guy, I wouldn't bother with the Auchentoshen. Bowmore is better, Auchentoshen was a bit harsh to me last time I tried it (tastebud maturation over the years). Even the Bowmore I don't like as much as I used to, but the Bowmore 25 I had (1 shot, lol) was amazing! They had a Bowmore 40 there, too, but that stuff is ridiculous!

 

[vvvvvvv]

If you're a Caol Ila and Lagavulin guy, I wouldn't bother with the Auchentoshen. Bowmore is better, Auchentoshen was a bit harsh to me last time I tried it (tastebud maturation over the years). Even the Bowmore I don't like as much as I used to, but the Bowmore 25 I had (1 shot, lol) was amazing! They had a Bowmore 40 there, too, but that stuff is ridiculous!

Thanks!

Yeah, I don't pay for anything past 18, and the advice I've gotten from the Scotch connoisseurs that I know tell me it's very rare for anything to be worth it past 25, and that in some cases they've bought 30's or older that they felt the quality had gone down.

I'd really like to have some cask strength Scotch on-hand eventually...