What whisk(e)y are we drinking? (Part 2)

BonnieSituation

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344916#Comment_118344916

The colour of that is immense. It's like gravy!

Cazale

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118345303#Comment_118345303

Side by side with Maple syrup for the craic. It's a lovely whiskey. I did detect a slight bit of sulphur on the nose at times but it didn't detract too much. There was a bit of controversy over Glendronach and chill filtering recently. The bottle the sample came from was a good few years old so that wasn't an issue here. I have 50ml of the 18 year old so ill try them together soon.

1901Rory

Shelf clean and stock take (ostentatiously arranged, of course)

Cazale

https://onlydrams.wordpress.com/2021/12/19/review-talisker-10-40/

I've been busy updating my blog (https://onlydrams.wordpress.com) recently. The latest post is a review of Talisker 10. Some reviews in the last month include:

Redbreast 15 La Maison du Whisky

Green Spot 1990s Bottling

Bushmills 2008 Muscatel Cask

Teeling 13 Year Old Single Grain

Redbreast 21 year old

The Devil's Keep

I've some cracking whiskeys already reviewed and ready to go in the next few months including:

Powers 30 year old (1970s)

Midleton Academy Edition No.1

Ardbeg Serendipity 12-year-old

Whites 22 (1960s)

Pappy Van Winkle (Entire range)

Boards.ie has always been a great source of support but I try not to spam it too much. I've posted most of what's on the blog on this thread anyway but a visit would be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading!

Cazale

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346123#Comment_118346123

That's some collection there. Some favourites spotted amongst them. What's your go to bottle out of it?

snowgal

Anyone have an opinion on whether a 12 year old Glendronach or 18 year Glenfarclas would be better? Still trying to buy for hubby! Thanks 🙏

1901Rory

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346220#Comment_118346220

ive a good few samples and miniatures, so i try to keep to about 6 open bottles at a time. Reaching for Rb12 and Lap10 mostly these days.

Most of the rest are unopened, what favourites among them would you recommend i open next?

Cazale

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118347106#Comment_118347106

For the time of year I would go for that Lagavulin. I presume it's the 16? I have a bottle on the go at the moment and it's going down a treat. I love the Kilkerran Cask Strength so seeing as you have two of them I'd be opening one!

Of the bottles I haven't tried I'd go for that Irish Reserve 26 year old. I know it's supposed be a good whiskey rather than a great one but I like the mystery around it.

2011abc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346157#Comment_118346157

https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=256601916 Latest Talisker 10 is 45.8% ABV and only 30 euro .I had a bottle in my hand and wasnt brave enough .Did the Kilbeggan tour and hated the Connemara Peated (along with everyone else !)at the tasting .At a later charity tasting featuring mega peated Bruichladdichs I was far more enthusiastic and I think many 'experts' say lots of peat is better than a little .I generally dont like smoke ,brine or peat though ....One reviewer said it was like drinking fancy hotel hand wash !Ought I?I find 'disliking' whiskey purchases far more depressing than most items ie 'drink or kitchen sink'?:-( On a side note the Lidl /Aldi 3 year old seems to get varied reviews ,obviously the 8 is a grand drop .Some say it improved lots lately ,something got to do with the size of the deer on label ?!One guy even claims the 3 is better than 8 .I guess min alcohol pricing will kill it next month .I had a peek at website ,looks grand,not claiming to be an expert but I think Wordpress website would require serious social media presence to max out exposure .But Im nearly certain you said youve been there and done that and just want to chill these days .Youtube channel /podcast ?

2011abc

This american lady was great at the reviews (beer and whiskey) but as far as I can tell moved on to Australia and gave up on the reviews .Any more info ?https://www.youtube.com/c/5MinF/videos

1901Rory

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348128#Comment_118348128

i have been eyeing up the Lag16 a bit. You’re right, it’s the time of year for it.

Cazale

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348446#Comment_118348446

I'm genuinely not that pushed with the blog. I'll post it from time to time but the main reason I got back into it is that I accidentally threw out my notebook a few months ago with all my tasting notes etc for the last couple of years. I was fairly pissed off losing that so I'm using it as a way to record what I've tried. It's a handy way of learning more too. It's had over 200 different visitors this month so I'm happy enough with that. Anymore requires effort which I can only do for so long until I get bored!

If you are feeling brave and want me to send you on some peated samples in the new year give me a shout by pm. I'd be delighted to help out a long time poster like yourself. Taking time with them at home might give you a different perspective. Or you might want to throw them down the toilet 😂

Cazale

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348623#Comment_118348623

A friend of mine is convinced it's not the same as it was before. My bottle was bought a good few years ago but he said the new bottles aren't as good. Incidentally I read that Diageo are upping the price next year on it.

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346951#Comment_118346951

The Glenfarclas 18.

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118350465#Comment_118350465

I've been drinking Lagavulin 16 for about 20 years and honestly I haven't noticed a dip in quality, is the simple answer.

Yes, distillery outputs change slowly year by year, and over a long enough window it can amount to a noticeable change. You hear people make similar claims about Laphroaig 10 tasting far more virile and powerful in the 80s and early 90s, for example, maybe with greater regularity than with Lagavulin. Certainly if you go further back to true vintage whiskey it's the case that genuinely vintage bottlings from the 50s and 60s have a different flavour profile compared to output from the same distilleries today.

But 9 times out 10 when I hear someone say this and they're talking about a change within the last 10-15 years they're usually more likely to be confusing their evolving palate with the product having markedly changed.

I remember how shocking my first taste of Ardbeg was in the 90s. It's burned indelibly into my brain, a proverbial punch in the tastebuds that nearly brought tears to my eyes. But if I take an Ardbeg 10 today it does not 'taste' the same to me, even higher phenol content whiskies don't evoke that same response. But it's mostly me and my palate which has evolved... Not the whisky...

The other factor is that we have the perennial Irish thing of wanting to cry about how cheap our favourite whiskey was in years gone by, and to that we seem to also need to tack on a belief that the contemporary whiskey is also a dilution to boot.

odyssey06

Roe and Co Curators series 0.1 ... dont know too much about this one, won it at a tasting but I like it, it shares some flavour profiles with basic blend but a real step up in quality. Less sweet more heft and depth.

High use of ex-Bourbon Cask Malt Whiskey and a layer of first-fill American Oak Grain Whiskey. Port casks in the mix also according to the blurb...

https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Roe-and-Co-Curators-Series-0.1

awec

Fercullen 8 year old. I like it, good whiskey at the price point (35).

Yellow Spot - first time trying this, I think I still prefer RB12 but need a few more goes at it to be certain. Still, very very nice. This price point is about as high as I am willing to go for a whiskey to drink on a semi-regular basis.

dobman88

I've been gifted a bottle of this by someone who knows nothing about whiskey and I'll admit I've never heard of it myself.

Any opinions? Plan to have a drop tomorrow or maybe NYE but if anyone has tried it I'd like to hear about it

https://proclamationwhiskey.com/

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118376066#Comment_118376066

I've never seen nor heard of it but it has the smell of american market off it to me, i.e. all fur coat and no knickers.

I am a cynic though, so may be wrong.

Deagol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118376066#Comment_118376066

Got a bottle of it from the mrs, it's ok for the money. Perfectly drinkable but that's about it. I'd suspect it's mainly Bushmills but definitely something else in there I can't identify. Herself paid €35 for it and that's about as much as I'd like to pay for it.

Cazale

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118376066#Comment_118376066

Haven't tried it. It's a blend of malt and grain from Great Northern Distillery. Made by the same people behind Grace O'Malley whiskey.

Cazale

Had some nice whiskeys lined up for the week that's in it but haven't been feeling the best so it's just been Jameson hot whiskeys. Pcr and daily antigen tests ruled out covid thankfully. Was working the last two days but I'm off now so hopefully I'll get to try some decent whiskey. Did anyone get or try anything nice over the Christmas?

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118376970#Comment_118376970

I think you're right on all counts. The fact that it is grain heavy and has a 47% ABV would make me marginally more interested in it but it's definitely intended as a entry-level whiskey, I wouldn't expect a huge amount but it should be 'fine'.

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118376992#Comment_118376992

I've been mainly drinking products of the grape the past few days...

Opened a little bottle of a manzanilla on Christmas eve and then we had champagne. After dinner I opened a bottle of Hidalgo Pedro Ximenez and it was my only disappointment of the past few days... I like sweet wines and port, but this was so sweet it was actually undrinkable. Finished with a Lagavulin 16 instead, which purged my taste buds, a scorched earth approach.

On Christmas day more champagne and then a lot a Cabernet sauvignon / merlot that my wife bought 'in bond' for my father-in-law many years ago. It cost her about 35 euro a bottle at the time, and it seems she was lucky because the same wine now sells for 150 a bottle (!). After dinner I had an Ardbeg 10. Always fun to revisit this whisky, it's tremendously good although I would argue not the best value in Ardbeg's line-up.

St. Stephen's day I had a glass of the manzanilla and then a few splashes of a really buttery Premier Cru chablis. Then opened a high-altitude Malbec which was tremendously good. Late in the evening I opened a 2014 Niepoort LBV which was, as usual, never disappointing. Finished with a Glenfarclas 15.

Today I have that slightly seedy feeling that comes with a few days steady drinking (I never got bananas but it was a fair bit of booze). We'll open more champagne later and then I'll drink the rest of the Malbec with dinner and then some LBV.

In terms of whisky gifts, yes, I got one thing... A 1L bottle of Laproaig PX cask. It's very well-reviewed. Slightly dreading it now after the Hidalgo PX being a disaster, but ... We'll see....

antimatterx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118376970#Comment_118376970

Grace O'Malley is a solid whiskey imo. Big fan.

Beanstalk

I sampled some Redbreast Cask Strength, a Yellow Spot, a Green Spot Leoville Barton, an Ardbeg Uigedeal and a Port Charlotte 10. My favourites were the Green Spot which was like strawberries and the yellow spot which reminded me of marshmallows. The Uigedeal was incredible too.

Got gifted a Nikka Days and a Powers John Lane, neither of which I've had before. Excited. Tonight I revost the RB Cask Strength. I think maybe it needs more time open in the bottle...

2011abc

Have been nursing along a Bush white and two bottles (not long after one) of Irish American 10 (no longer Single Malt but 'high malt content ') through December and splashed out on a Pot Still 4 Minis set(36 euro) just before Christmas as Irish Malts had a free postage day .I had the four over 2-3 days (the 50mls is far better that way than 30-35(or perish the thought 20ml) thats becoming more common with some once off 'tasting night ' sets ).I found the Green Spot and Red Breast nicer than on previous occassions but didnt enjoy the Barry Crockett at quite the same ultra high level as before .Johns Lane now has 'new' label (so thats awful) but its still second best of the four set .

Sipping the Irish American 10 now and it could stand alongside any of the three 'fillers' in the 'four set'.Nice drop and not a bad price at around 44 euro .

Cazale

A brief history and review of a Powers 30 year old from the 1970s. A glimpse of a Dublin pot still tradition that was sadly lost when distilleries like John’s Lane and Bow street closed.

https://onlydrams.wordpress.com/2021/12/25/powers-30-year-old/

DARK-KNIGHT

thoughts on tullamore dew 12 year old?

DARK-KNIGHT

also anyone tried any of the irishman whiskeys or anyone suggest what one to try?