What whisk(e)y are we drinking? (Part 2)
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Ralfy named Ledaig 10 as his whisky of the year for 2022 the other day. It's a 10 year old peated Single Malt. Trying it tonight to see what the fuss is.
Sweet and rich. Soft earthy peat. Campfire smoke. Sea salt. Pepper spice. Lingering finish. A decent dram at the price.
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Been quite the week... as I'm sure it has been for all of us.
Finally picked up a Three Swallows a couple of weeks back while it went down to 30.
On Christmas Eve, in a fit of MAP panic, I bought a Johns Lane also. Decided to give both a whirl side-by-side. 3S is a lovely dram, but it's certainly not one for the RRP. I look forward to giving it more consideration over the next while when things calm down a bit.
Have commented on the JL a lot before. Truly lovely juice. finally gets pride of place on the shelf. Had to remove the dregs of a 1L Gold Label - that I got last year for 35- to fit it in. Will do a bottle kill - eh @Cazale - of it this week with some Irish Coffees. 2020 was truly a glorious whiskey deal year.
Headed down to Sligo to the in-laws on Christmas Day (no better day for travelling).
Lucan to Grange was done in no time at all.
First red light I hit after leaving the parental unit's house was just at Finisklin in Sligo town. Immense!
As some may remember, the FIL gave me an Athrú Annacoona First edition (14yo) last year for Christmas, but I neve opened it. Much to his disappointment of course. Though, I knew by this Christmas there might have been new leanbh in the house, so was saving it for something worthwhile...
Brought it down with me and wet the baby's head with it with him and the brother in Law. It really is a lovely drop and I've waxed about it before. By far the best of the series. Regardless of it being the special edition... whiskey is for drinking as it goes.
The BIL brought back a (litre of) Glenmorangie Elementa 14yo from Barcelona, which we had before the Athrú and the difference of the 2 whiskeys couldn't be more pronounced from the start to the flipped finishes, ie. the Athrú lingered longer after creeping up on you whereas the Glen was sharper at the front and fell off a cliff.
Felt the Athrú was more complex and had more depth to it. But the Glenmorangie is certainly one that a Scotch heathen such as myself could do worse with on the shelf.
Of course we went back to an old reliable that evening.
The FIL, thought a knife would be a good idea to cut off the foil. I mean, that tab is impenetrable [sar]. Thankfully I caught him in time before he did some real damage.
I picked up the RB12 with the Birdfeeder for him. Since retirement he's taken to tending his massive garden down in Sligo.
The Birdfeeder was most welcomed (and can be seen just in the bottom right of the photo here). Bastard has some view alright!
But then not to be outdone, he gifted me this (and the Athrú glass above)...
Now, the Ratheadon (1.1) was a triumph, with other releases being somewhat disappointing in comparison. I've seen good and bad reports on the Cuvée and tbh, I kind of echoed some of the, that felt that blending was not part of the deal with what Waterford were doing. But then again, why not? It's exactly what they should be doing really, and I was being a bit churlish I feel.
This was like the first taste of the Ratheadon all over again. Fresh on the first taste, if a bit grassier. Lovely 'milky/oily' texture and very delicate and sweet finish. A triumph indeed. I'm definitely going to grab another one of these and hold onto it for next summer as I feel I'll get through this one rather briskly. My excitement to taste their 5yo and 10yo expressions in time has been renewed.
All in all, a fairly decent week or so given the complete absence of whiskey from my diet the last few months.
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