Travel Retail exclusive expressions

Laphroaig PX-Cask PC 11 Octomore 6.2 Balvenie Tripel Cask (12, 16 and 25 Year Old)

Years ago they had some Macallan Travel Series: 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's that were lovely drinks and inexpensive. Then I remember the Johnnie Walker Green 180 Cask that I found to be quite alright. The Highland Park 21 Year Old was quite good.

These days, the Laphroaig PX Cask and Bowmore 100 Degrees Proof are interesting expressions.

Others that come to mind would be the Macallan 1824 Series (not your regular 1824 series), Old Pulteneys and Auchentoshans.

I have a Dark Storm pending so will see how that stacks up.

I travel a lot and always visit duty free stores. But, in the past 12-18 months I have seen a lot of rather uinteresting travel exclusives come out (NAS, rock-bottom ABV, weird pompous names, ...). It just seems to be "take advantage of the unwary traveler" season.

Personally, I now focus on getting decent-priced, non-excusive bottles in 1 liter format, such as the Talisker 57 North, the Ardbeg 10, and the Glennfiddich 15 yo (at 51% abv, not the watered-down versions).

I'm not a regular flyer, but this summer I'll be flying from Amsterdam to Palermo and back. The new Bowmore travel range caught my interest. Let's see what the reviews say in the coming months.

Otherwise the Talisker 57 north is a good option indeed! But I'll be comparing prices with my regular retailers for sure.

I don’t like the trend towards duty free exclusivity and the lack of standard bottlings in airports, but when travelling I try and have a list of duty free targets in my back pocket. I’m looking forward to trying the newish Old Pultney releases. I would also second the recommendation of Laphroaig PX and Bowmore 100 degree’s proof.

I like the Laphroaig PX and also the An Cuan Mor. I would love to try the Bowmore 100 degrees prof of though.

@olivier: I have 100mls. of G/F DE. 15yo. that I've saved - ex. Duty Free and originally a liter; what a beautiful 'drop'. There is no comparison with their standard range which has always tasted rather ordinary, (to me). How a Distillery can put out such variations in quality is incomprehensible.

Slainte!

I've become increasingly skeptical of these exclusives. I recently sampled a couple of the OPs and agree with some online reviewers: the 12yo is better. I also agree with reviewers here about the LaphPX: good, yes, but not as much as we expected or proportional to price. My samplings of Balvenie TripleWoods 12&16 were not stellar; too spicy or grassy. I will write soon about my Ab15 experience too. I have said it elsewhere, but the Bowmore 17 is the best travel exclusive purchase that I'm aware of. And actually I think Bowmore has been generally good in this market (excepting the Surf and Enigma) and for that reason I look forward to their new Black Rock, which I just picked up after reading a few good initial impressions elsewhere online.

FYI, there are 2 other discussion topics containing some suggestions: connosr.com/wall/discussion/… connosr.com/wall/discussion/…

I would like to see members here generating more reviews for duty free. It does not happen enough, and it is needed to help each other-- and to keep that market in check.

Thank you all for your replies to my thread.

Seems a consistent vote for Laphroaig PX-Cask & Bowmore 100 degree’s proof. By chance I picked these up previously.

@olivier I agree this part of the whisky industry has taken off (no pun) with a flood of NAS releases. It's made me sceptical. Previously I did just as you have: bought 1litre versions of my favourites. But, wanting to try more and more expressions it's hard to resist the chance to try something new by a favourite distillery.

@vanPelt Thank you for the links to other forum threads on this topic. Certainly more member reviews/feedback on Travel Retail expressions would be great. I wish I'd read your comment prior to making my purchases.

Also, the airport you travel to makes a very big difference for the range available. I find airports in Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong & Singapore to have a fantastic range.

A friend didn't want to use all his duty free allowance so kindly brought the third bottle for me. So what did I end up with after my trip? Auchentoshan Silveroak, Old Pulteney Duncansby Head & Balvenie Triple Cask 12 yr.

Of interest I sampled two of the new Glenfiddich travel retail range at the airport. I found the finish rather short, lacking the complexity of the 12 or 18 yr from their range, yet inoffensive and pleasant. I'd be willing to try it some more

p.s. After reading more of this thread I am annoyed I bypassed the Bowmore 17...next time it will have to be.

Kilchoman Coull Point will be sold exclusively at some airports in England. I had the previous years version and it was very tasty. Soft peat with a sherry edge:)