Malts I struggle with....

@hawkscotch Hi! I felt the same feeling with the Connemara at the beginning, it was challenging me...but with a bit of time I started to appreciate it, of course it's not among my favourites but now I find myself pouring a dram when I am in the mood...it's good stuff, it will find his way to your tastebuds too...

This is a tough post to reply to, but I think I know what you are going for, though I am going ta ask for a bit of clarification .. do you feel that there is just something lacking in these malts or is there something that you actively dislike about them?

Likes and dislikes vary and obviously everyone is different .. (some people even like Littlemill!) but I don't think that is what you mean. I've found a number of malts over the years that have left me cold, the most recent example of which is the Tullibardine 1993, I really enjoyed the 1988 and would have put it into my top ten if asked. When it was no longer available locally I bought a bottle of the '93 but it just leaves me cold, there is nothing wrong with it, but for me at least, there is nothing special about it either. It goes beyond likes and dislikes, I would be happy to be offered it by a friend and would not turn my nose up at it in a bar, but at home, no thanks and I'll never buy another bottle.

I think that what most of us are looking for is that "something special" in a malt, I know I have three (well two with an option) standard malts that amount to 80+% of my consumption, but I still haunt liquor outlets and online sources looking for something new or exciting. Obviously not everything can be a winner, the only advice I can give is to find a few prolific reviewers who like what you like and see what else they recomend.

Even so you will hit some that don't do it for you, over the years i've collected a couple that are saved for the in-laws and even two that are for cooking.

As far as the verbage is concerned the term "je ne sais quoi" is perfectly valid.