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Talisker 57 Degrees North, Ardbeg Uigeadail, Ardbeg Ten, Amrut Naarangi. I am reviewing a few bottles prior to presenting a tasting. I want to know how they taste now. They will do fine.
6 years ago 7Who liked this?
@Victor I hope that’s not the order in which you tasted them...
6 years ago 1Who liked this?
@Nozinan I did taste them in that order, but naah, you know better than to think that is the order in which I will present them. Yes, I could well taste the Naarangi. Those peaties will probably be after 12-20 others, malty malts, Irish, bourbons and ryes, wine caskers, etc. It's nice to have that very distinctive Naarangi to throw into the wine-cask line-up. Finding something good, interesting, and unusual is a giant boon. Naarangi is not the best whisky in the universe, but it is very good, and it is most definitely not "same old, same old". Lots of people in the whisky world are vying to produce something(s) new and bold. Very few succeed. Signet, Naarangi, Ealanta, Old Potrero, Corsair Quinoa, Buckwheat, Rasputin, etc, and maybe Astar, gave something very different. Most efforts do not produce results far from the mainstream.
I've worked with a lot of skilled musicians. Those who are most experienced tend to veer the farthest from conventional taste in what they like. Those are the ones who crave zippy dissonance in what they compose and in what they perform. Too much boring 'same old, same old'.
@Nozinan now, just for fun, I am going to have a dram of Old Grand-Dad 114.
6 years ago 5Who liked this?
Having a new bottle of OGD 114 and am suprised about how much better this bottle is than the last one. Good batch this one!
6 years ago 5Who liked this?
@Victor I am curious to know which Uigeadail and TEN you currently have open. I’m always interested to hear your findings and musings.
6 years ago 1Who liked this?
@casualtorture are you able to find and share the laser code? My current bottle of OGD114 is running low and I need to pick up another bottle (leaving my two “good” bottles alone for now).
6 years ago 1Who liked this?
@Nock Ha! The one time I don't cite the batch info and I get asked for it. I should have known.
That bottle is L10 151 Uigeadail, the bottling of Uigeadail over which we met and which is the most commented upon review on Connosr (though not of this particular bottle from that bottling date):
connosr.com/ardbeg-uigeadail-whisky-review…
I still have that one and three more bottles from that batch, though they don't taste the same depending on the store (and state) from which they were bought. This bottle is one from which you've sampled.
The Ardbeg Ten is 16/11/2015, an inferior batch which has gotten a lot better with air exposure. It might be worth 85 points now.
connosr.com/ardbeg-10-year-old-whisky-revi…
Current Ardbegs open here: these two, TEN L10 152, Galileo, Ardbog, SN2010 = Supernova 2010, Dark Cove 55% Committee Release, and Corryvreckan L13 230.
L10 152 Ardbeg Ten: reviewed by both of us, from my bottle:
connosr.com/ardbeg-10-year-old-whisky-revi…
connosr.com/ardbeg-10-year-old-75cl-whisky…
In the Ardbeg department I also have unopen bottles of L11 028 Uigeadail, your personal fave, at least one TEN from a different batch, one more Corryvreckan from a different batch, (2) Supernova 2014, Supernova 2015, Perpetuum, (2) more Ardbogs, and one more Airigh Nam Beist 18 yo. @Nock, someday when I get ambitious I'll dig out the batch numbers of that other bottle of Corryvreckan and Ten I have around. I think that the unopened Ten is of a batch of which I think I read that you disapprove. The unopened Corryvreckan might be the only tolerable Corryvreckan of the three I have bought to date.
6 years ago 2Who liked this?
Last night, I had a friend over for dinner and drinks. After a couple of beers that he had brought back with him from a recent trip to New York and a couple of Filet Mignon steaks cooked on the charcoal grill with pecan wood chips, we sat down with the following drams;
Miltonduff SMWS 72.31 (29 year - Dec. 1983) "Something Old, Something New" - Refill Hogshead ex-Bourbon - 48.3% ABV
Bladnoch SMWS 50.56 (23 year - July 1990) ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!’ - Refill barrel - 60.3% ABV
16 year (June 2002) Cragganmore (SMWS 37.115 "A robotic woodsmith") that was finished in a Moscatel hogshead for 2 years after spending the first 14 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead.
Glen Ord SMWS 77.47 (10 year - Aug. 7th, 2007) "Delicatessens and old libraries" finished in a 2nd-fill fine grain French oak hogshead after maturing in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 59.2% ABV
11 year (March 2007) Old Pulteney (SMWS 52.23 "Ice-cream and gorse by the sea"). After 9 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, it was transferred to a 2nd fill Pedro Ximenez hogshead for 2 years.
17 year (October 2000) Auchentoshan (SMWS 5.69 "Triple whammy!"). Previously in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 13 years, it spent the next 4 years in a 1st-fill Pedro Ximenez hogshead. (I'm not usually a big fan of Auchentoshan, but I really like this one; mainly due to the influence of the PX cask.)
Laphroaig SMWS 29.226 (18 year - Mar. 1999) - "Seaside surprise" - Refill ex-Oloroso sherry butt - 56.8% ABV
A great night of food, drink and conversation with a great friend.
6 years ago 5Who liked this?
Scapa Skiren before salad for dinner. After dinner, who knows? Probably something peaty!
6 years ago 3Who liked this?
A little late to be simultaneous with you @Victor, but tonight as I try to make headway on a talk I have to prepare, I am sipping some OGD 114. Quite tasty.
6 years ago 1Who liked this?
Spoke too soon. I'll work on it tomorrow. I'm tired, and I only got a few sips in. I'll leave the rest for tomorrow too.
6 years ago 0
Just cracked a Benromach Peat Smoke 2006-16 at 62 ppm. First impressions are of quite a clean but surprisingly subdued nose. A good amount of (wood) smoke and a whole fruit basket with some salt - seems like one to really let one's nose get into once it's opened up. Taste is quite sour and fruity again with the smoke and ashy notes really hanging on into quite a long finish.
Not bad at all but not quite what I was expecting truth be told. It feels like it's missing something . . .
6 years ago 4Who liked this?
@RianC yes, yes...what is it missing? Could it be brine? My biggest gripe with peated Speyside whiskies is that the peat and smoke don't taste as good to me without the brine. That's why I am overwhelmingly still an Islay malt lover, the brine. It's a flavour combining thing, like adding onions to your boring stew to make it into something. Peat tastes better to me with brine, in general.
My favourite peat without brine, i.e. without brine as far as I know, is Amrut Peated Cask Strength. The clarity and intensity of their peating makes this Amrut Peated Cask Strength stunning.
6 years ago 7Who liked this?
@Victor - Brine? Possibly, but I certainly agree that it lacks something that Islay peat brings - iodine or a certain coastal 'earthiness' for sure.
The only non-Islay peated whiskys that really excite me are Ledaig and Talisker and they, especially the latter, have brine in abundance!
6 years ago 3Who liked this?
Quod Erat Demonstrandum.
Here's an odd observation: the peat from Ledaig reminds me of the peat from Amrut.
6 years ago 1Who liked this?
@OdysseusUnbound 2006-2016 that seems pretty clear... 9 YO
6 years ago 1Who liked this?
While making dinner, I had a small (20 ml) pour of Compass Box Peat Monster. I find this whisky fascinating. It’s by no means a monster, despite its moniker. There is peat, but there’s also plenty of butter and fruit. Tasty.
6 years ago 3Who liked this?
I’m sipping some Isle of Arran 10 Year Old now. This is a very tropical fruity dram that’s bright and youthful without being “spirity”.
6 years ago 4Who liked this?
Tonight I will try to finish the OGD 114 I poured yesterday.
6 years ago 3Who liked this?
@Victor and interestingly the malt used for Ledaig is from the Port Ellen Maltings i.e. essentially the same as most Islay distilleries (in terms of source of peat and barley).
6 years ago 3Who liked this?
@OdysseusUnbound I enjoyed my bottle of Arran 10. Fairly simple but enjoyable. I ended up blending the heel of the bottle with the last of my Port Charlotte 10 and that was a pleasing union. From memory the Arran lost some of its initial fruitiness after it had been open for a while.
6 years ago 2Who liked this?
@OdysseusUnbound - Possibly my favourite of the 'lighter' end of malts with nods to an Irish style. The 14 is very good and well received but the 10, I think, is underappreciated. Very good value for money in the UK as well - under £35.
6 years ago 3Who liked this?
@Hewie - I didn't know that about Ledaig -thanks. Kind of makes sense though as it definitely has that coastal, iodine(ish) style of peat. We've had a cold snap this week after some very warm weather and boy does it make me crave the peat!
6 years ago 2Who liked this?
@RianC Funny you should mention that, I have “very reminiscent of Irish single malt“ in my original tasting notes.
6 years ago 2Who liked this?
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