Purest essence of malt?

@Wodha, my vote for purest malt flavoured whisk(e)y is Clontarf Single Malt.

I think all of the (non-peated) entry level whiskies from any distillery are fairly malty (Glenmorangie Original, Glenfiddich 12, Macallan 10, Glengoyne 10, BenRiach 12, Glen Grant Major's Reserve...). Of course that's simply because they didn't have the time to incorporate "external" flavours from the wood (spices, oak, sherry...).

Personally two whiskies I remember most as malty were a Glenallachie 1995 bottled by Malts of Scotland and a North Port 1980 by Scott's Selection. That last one was really muesli with a dash of alcohol: whiskynotes.be/2011/north-port/…

@Victor, @WhiskyNotes, Thanks for the tips. I've not tried any of the whiskies you've mentioned. Now I have a shopping list. My current quest is "purest malt flavor"...

Previous quests have been "the peatiest" (Ardbeg Supernova (which I LOVE) - though I haven't tried Octomore yet) and "most delicious" (still doing research on this one but so far, IMO, it is Old Pulteney 12 tied with Aberfeldy 12).

From my limited tasting history, I would chalk one up for Glengoyne 10, which I just picked up last month. They air dry their malt rather than fire dry, which I believe (someone please correct me if I am mistaken) is rather unique. As a result, it really does seem to let the malt profile shine through, without a smokey (peat or otherwise) profile coming through. It's simplicity, for lack of a better term is very refreshing and different.

@Wodha I don't disagree with any listed here, and I would add four more: Balblair 1997, Deanston 12 yo (@46.3%), Glenrothes Alba Reserve (although it offers lots of vanilla), and most especially Tullibardine 1993. Another really interesting (and surprising) one is GlenDronach 14yo Virgin Oak.

@Wodha If you want to try Octomore, I have a bottle of the second edition (140 ppm), open and I would be glad to share a dram with you. By the way, Supernova (1st edition) is one of my all time favorites. Octomore is a very good alternative!

@bwmccoy Wow, you are too kind. I'm in Seattle, where are you? I'd be happy to bring a rare bottle of something and we could trade drams. In your opinion which did you like better, Supernova or Octomore? Also which did you find peatier?

@Wodha I'm in Seattle as well (live on the east side, but work downtown). Would be great to meet up and trade a dram or two or three... (I would love to hear about your recent trip as well.) As for my favorite, wow, that's a tough call because they are both great, but if I had to pick one it would be 1st edition Supernova. (I was disappointed in the 2nd edition of Supernova. To me, it was very different from the 1st version. I didn't have that same experience with Octomore. Even though Octomore 1.1 was "only" 131ppm and 2nd edition is 140ppm, to me, they are very similar - in a good way.) I didn't get to compare the Supernova side by side with the Octomore, but based on my memory, I would have to say that Octomore is peatier. The Supernova had more smoke (in addition to the peat) than Octomore does.