Peat Me

@Nolinske - Well, my first heavily peated whisky was Ardbeg 10 yo, which was sort of like a baby being thrown into the deep end of the pool for its first swimming lesson. But I was hooked by my third dram.

In retrospect, Caol Ila 12 yo might have been a more sensible starting point.

I'd recommend starting out light, something like Ardmore Traditional Cask or a Bowmore. I've never had a Bunnahabhain, but I think the 12y is lightly peated as well.

@Nolinske I had good success with both McClelland Islay, and Bunnahabhain 12yr as an intro to peated whiskys. The McClelland is young and priced right, and the Bunna is the lightest peated of the Islay expressions. Hope this was helpful. :)

@PMessinger, you took the words right out of my mouth! Particularly due to the price, McClelland Islay is a perfect place to start. As well I would say that Black Bottle is a great blend for entering the world of peat.

I have to disagree about McClellands - it actually was the first one I tried, and it took me about three years before I was brave enough to try another one. It's just not very good.

Also have to slightly disagree with the Bunnahabhain recommendation (sorry guys, not trying to be difficult here), as even if it might have a very mild peat flavor, it doesn't actually use any peated barley at all.

I guess my recommendation is Bowmore 12- very pleasant and not overly peated. Should be no problem spotting it for under $50, or even around $40. Or if you want a really gentle intro to smokiness, go for Highland Park 12. If you just want to jump head-first into the pool, and get one that's the best whisky, get Ardbeg 10. I don't think you can get a better peaty whisky under $50 than Ardbeg.

@valuewhisky I've not yet had the Bowmore 12, however I do agree about the HP12, Ardbeg 10 those are great whiskys. @CanadianNinja I've not had Black Bottle yet but hope to try that one soon. Thanks. :)

@valuewhisky ... Well allow me to retort!

I think one reason why Bunnahabhain would be a good one to try is exactly because it's not often considered a 'peated whisky'. This may be a good dram to get one's feet wet.

Also, with regard to McClellands, I have many friends who share your thoughts about the quality of this whisky. However for the price I always thought it made a good introduction to Islay whiskies. But... to each his own ; )

@CanadianNinja fair enough. I guess it's up to @Nolinske: whether he wants to go the "ease-in" route or the "jump-in" route, then any of these whiskies (including Bunna!) would be a fine way to go. Also as you mentioned some blends like Black Bottle would be good. As a cheap option I'd go there ahead of McClellands, even if none of the blends will have nearly as much peat.

@Nolinske Bowmore 12 is a great introductory peated malt. Affordable and not overpowering, although the peat is very present from beginning to end. Keep in mind though, if you like it, chances are you'll want try many more peated whiskeys to follow. Better start saving now! My 2 favourites are Ardbeg Uigeadail and Lagavulin 16. 2 outstanding whiskeys that will warm your soul. Looking forward to hearing about your first taste of peat!

Cheers!

Black Bottle, then Talisker, then Bunnahabhain, then Ardbeg, then Laphroaig, then Lagavulin. I know Laphroaig is peatier than Lagavulin, but you gotta appreciate what it is. If you want to go further I suggest Supernova. I found Octomore abusive. Delicious but abusive.

ARDBEG 10. Just jump in. It takes like 5 times trying anything new...like a peated malt, or sleeping in the nude...before you'll know whether you like it or not. ARDBEG 10

Thanks everyone for the responses and I'm not sure yet where I'm going to go this weekend with my choice. Im tempted to dive right in but at the same time logic insists that I go with testing the waters. The three front runners are McClellands, bowmore and ardbeg.

@Nolinske make sure to come back and let us know how it goes!

@valuewhisky will definitely let y'all know. I really enjoy this forum as I am new, and I am looking forward to being able to contirbute with discussions and reviews hopefully coming soon :)

@Nolinske My first go at it happened to also be my first Single Malt, which was Highland Park 12 Year, but I had trouble identifying the peat outside of noticing a smoky finish. Since then, I've had the Laphroaig Quarter Cask, which is an incredible and very peaty whisky.

I enjoy it a lot, and as such I recommend that one if you want to dive right in. I haven't had Ardbeg because it's over 100$ for a bottle where I live, which I'm not going to pay for a whisky that really doesn't cost that much anywhere else. I'll just get it at an airport next time I go on vacation.

Well my first was also Ardbeg ten. Its very peaty though, took a dram or two before i started to "understand" what i was tasting.

I can't think of a more gentle or rewarding introduction to peat than the very affordable and rather delicious Ardmore Malt. This beautifully balanced Whisky is finished in 1/4 casks, as are some of the sister distillery's 'Laphroaig'. It's likely that some of the casks at Ardmore previously held some of the rather special Malt the Laphroaig 1/4 cask. This is pure speculation on my part but I have looked long and hard at Ardmore over many nights and this is the impression I get; it makes sound business sense, too.

Anyway, it is well worth a 'try'; it wont jump out of the bottle and beat you over the head with clods of peat but if you relax into your dram, you will find it a mighty fine, gently peated Whisky, indeed!

Slainte.

I jumped in with Laphroaig 10 as my first Islay dram. It was more of on a whim and wanting to see what an actual Islay style scotch tasted like. I loved it. Id love to acquire Ardbeg 10 or more of the other Laphroaig bottlings like the QC, or the CS 10 yr or the one that really interests me is the Triple Wood.

There's no wrong answer - though, if you want to jump in, jump in! For the heavily peated, well-made peated whiskies in that area, the Ardbeg 10 is good. Still, something to keep in mind, even if you don't care much for it at first, don't discount it for good. Some people don't take quickly to peat, subtle or big, some take to it quickly, and some never do. For years I couldn't stand it at all. I jumped in with the Corryvreckan and was blown away. Now, I like peated whiskies a lot, even if the Islay-style peat isn't what I drink first.

I agree 100% with Wodha except that I would had Kilchoman before Laphroaig.

I will throw out something no one has suggested. Bruichladdich Rocks is great in regards to light smoke peat and a good finish.

Thank you again everyone for your suggestions. I decided to dive right in with the understanding that it may take a few or many drams to truly understand peat and my feelings towards it. I purchased a bottle of Ardbeg 10.

I sit here with it and the nose has an intriguing smoke that makes me want further dive on in. The sweetness takes me aback at first. It seems like with all the smoke that it wouldnt have the sweetness but it really shines through, and the finish seems really long and smoky but in a great way. There is so much to this whiskey in the palate whether its pepper or a smoked meat I'm not entirely sure as this is all new to me, but it is really enjoyable. The finish is a dream just the long smokey finish is probably my favorite part of the dram. I think I'll have to limit this to one dram tonight b/c I don't know what my palate would do with 2 drams of this on my first go.

This has been an absolutely enlightening experience. Thank you all for your input!

@Nolinske...well now that you have jumped into the peat/smoke pool that is Ardbeg 10 (and have enjoyed so far), I will suggest that after finishing that swim, you may want to dry off at the campfire-in-a-glass that is Lagavulin 16. It has great wood smoke, and 'sweet' peat notes.

I have found that peat, for me at least, tends to fall into two very broad categories, 'vegetal' and 'sweet'. Vegetal peat can be found in something like Bowmore 12, whereas sweet peat comes through in something like Lagavulin 16 or Ardbeg Uigeadail, where sherry cask aging influences the profile to at least some degree.

@Pudge72 that's very good to know i really wasnt sure exaclty how peat comes across....i suppose that is a given...I look forward to trying new peated whiskeys to broaden my horizens although i definitely think that it will be a slower process for me b/c i dont know if it is normal, but I felt like that one glass of peated whiskey blew my palate out of the water. Is that normal? It may just be that im new to peated whiskey it just took me by surprise how i was still feeling the ardbeg 10 on my palate an hour or so later.....not that it was really a bad thing :)

@Nolinske...that experience is what attracted me (and I'm sure many others) to peated whiskies in the first place! On occasion, even after brushing my teeth and eating, I will still pick up a smoky and/or peaty aftertaste in my nose or mouth the next day!!

Generally, if you're tasting multiple bottles in one sitting, the more heavily peated whiskies are usually left to the end, for their potential to overpower.

@Nolinske If I had seen this thread earlier I would have recommended the Ardbeg 10. It is a wonderful dram which you will never forget. My first single malt was Laphroaig 10 yo which i fell in love with and the Ardbeg 10 for me is even better.

Those that suggested routes into peat are not wrong but I prefer to jump right in and I hope you love the peat as much as I do.

I also agree with @wodha that you should follow up with Laphroaig and the Lagavulin 16. The Laphroaig 10 feels more raw but blows your mind.

Enjoy!

@Nolinske Welcome to the club! ;-) Glad you enjoyed it.

I'll second the suggestion of Kilchoman...everything those guys do is excellent!

Also, newcomers seem to shine to sherry finished Islays a little easier. I think the round and sweet character gives them something familiar, while allowing them to get drawn in to the peat smoke. Definitely not in the $40 price restriction, but on this front I'd suggest Bruichladdich Waves and one of my all time favs: Port Charlotte PC9.

One of the first peated whiskies I tasted was the Caol Ila 12 Year Old @Nolinske