Which is your Favourite Islay Distillery and Why?

My favourite is usually the one I'm drinking on any given day. The only one that presents more of a challenge lately is Bowmore. Apart from Laimrig and Tempest I'm not finding anything in their affordable core range particularly appealing. All of the other Islay distilleries give me several excellent and affordable options.

@BlueNote - 'My favourite is usually the one I'm drinking on any given day.'

Touche! A good point and to be fair I'm pretty happy with any Islay in the glass

I like them all....so far. I haven’t tried all of them, or all of their expressions, so I can’t fairly judge. If I had to pick ONE distillery, today it would be Ardbeg, but I might give you a different answer tomorrow.

@OdysseusUnbound Have you tried any of the Caol Ila CS? I know you have access...

@Nozinan Not yet. I like to make sure I have enough time to spend when tasting a dram for the first time.

@RianC, do please tell us more about this "need to rub down my legs with Winter Green style." :)

If I think about the Islay distilleries in the abstract, then my gut response is Laphroaig. Their identity in my mind might as well be the Platonic ideal of Islay whisky.

But if I actually look at the distilleries' whisky lineups, then Laphroaig quickly falls back in the pack. They put out too much stupid garbage these days. Take away Laphroaig 10 CS, and is their lineup really that much more impressive than tepid old Bowmore's? Nope.

So based on the actual lineup of whiskies you can buy from the distilleries today, my answer is Ardbeg. I'm avoiding An Oa, but otherwise their stuff is great great great.

@MadSingleMalt Put that way, I have to agree.

I've been having a bit of a love affair (infatuation) with Kilchoman lately. However, over the holidays I have been switching back and forth between Kilchoman (Machir Bay, 100% Islay and a distillery only sample from a friend) and the big three Islays. Now, if I had to rank them I would probably put Kilchoman (at least the few I have experienced) behind Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin. I give Kilchoman full marks for presenting all of their offerings un-chillfiltered and natural colour, something none of the others do consistently. I see Kilchoman as the future of Islay whisky and a force to be reckoned with very soon. So far they are doing it with less bullshit and more substance. My ranking could change very easily, very soon.

@BlueNote, I dig everything you're saying. But in defense of Ardbeg, isn't all their stuff unchillfiltered and natural color too?

Bruichladdich for me just based on the fact they offer so much variety. Everything NCF, natural colour and majority bottled above 50% ABV, they also use such a variety of casks there has to be something for every taste.

@MadSingleMalt Yes, now that you mention it. Laphroaig and Lag and Caol Ila are guilty as charged, all charges against Ardbeg dismissed.

@MadSingleMalt - see my review on the PC HP.

It has a peat smell that reminds me of rubbing my legs with Winter Green as a kid before playing football in the freezing cold . . . my partner asked if I was alive during the last world war when I commented on this association

Tiger Balm would be a good substitute.

@BlueNote - glad Ardbeg is natural colour. I'd assumed it was but never seen it stated as such on the bottle.

@BlueNote - The proof is always in the glass and my experience (fwiw) tells me that some whiskys aren't as badly affected by the CF process, colouring an low abvs much as some others.

Both Laph and Laga do the above but still retain a good mouth feel - well, Laph certainly.

All Islay distilleries are great. Lagavulin is marvellous. Ardbeg is the supernova among them.

This my first comment as I am new to Whisky Connosr. We toured Islay last May and October 2017, I really enjoyed them all. I must say I thought Highland Park on the Orkney was just amazing!!

I meant to post this on What Are You Drinking Now? But Ardbeg is, and has always been, my favourite Islay distillery. I like them all, but in order of preference it would be, for me: 1) Ardbeg, 2 & 3) tie of Laphroaig and Bruichladdich, 4 & 5/) tie of Kilchoman and Lagavulin, 6) Caol Ila, 7) Bunnahabhain, and 8) yes, Bowmore. Why? Ardbeg gives the largest number of peak experiences, even from some batches of the standard line. Also, they don't dumb their products down to 40%, or even 43%, if I remember correctly. Isn't 46% ABV the low end for Ardbeg? That alone is righteous, and much celebrated by the angelic realms in Heaven.

Drinking now:

Ardbeg Galileo 1999-2012, 49% ABV. This bottle has been open nearly 4 years now. At this point the peat flavours are actually sharper than they were at first, and the Marsala wine flavours are less prominent. When this one came out one tasting panel named it "Finest Whisky in the World" and some reviewed it at 100 points. Others didn't like it at all. Much controversy ensued. I've always liked it, and am enjoying it greatly today. Time has shown the wine casks used to be not completely clean of sulphur, but that isn't keeping me from enjoying this mightily today. Even now, this has a great nose. Four years out, the overall flavours are still quite intense, and not muted by time and air exposure.

Ardbeg Supernova 2010, 60.1% ABV. Like @Nock I've found that Ardbeg SN2010 has just gotten better and better after the bottle is open. 6 1/2 years after opening the bottle this is fabulous. Potent and beautiful at the same time. This is the whisky which won @dramlette over to liking heavily peated Islay whisky. I was shocked when, in 2011, she suggested that I buy a bottle of this one, after our having sampled it at a liquor store. At the time it cost all of the outrageous price of $ 120 plus tax. That looks like a very reasonable price for any Supernova now. It will be interesting to see what Ardbeg does now that they have said that 2015 was the last year for Supernova (2009, 2010, 2014, 2015). Dark Cove at 55% ABV gives a similarly potent effect, albeit with a little wine involved. I do hope that high proof Dark Cove will have additional releases.

More to come this evening? Probably so. Maybe some Old Fitz BIB wheated bourbon, and/or some of my HP/Glenrothes vatting.

@Victor, it's hard to argue with your ranking. And since we both put Ardbeg as numero uno, I don't have to!

What do you think the odds are that they'll do additional releases of Dark Cove? I say zero. Sure, I could see them putting out another whisky with an equivalent recipe that might be just as good, but I doubt they'd call it "Dark Cove" again. They'll keep us guessing—and interested!—and keep the buzz training running by making every one-off release something nominally "new" each time. Of all recent releases, I think only the Supernova has had more than one generation, probably because it's the only one with a strong enough brand identity for them to lean on repeatedly.

I have been asked which is your favorite Scotch ? my reply the next one :)

@MadSingleMalt, I think that you are probably right about Ardbeg abandoning the Dark Cove name for future releases. I consider that to be a shame, because the Dark Cove 55% flavour profile is delightful and potent. The 46% version of Dark Cove is a totally different whisky. Many like that one too very much, but not I. To me all complexity is lost with that whisky which, for me, goes to an overwhelmingly monolithic black licorice finish.

I want to try that An Oa, despite sharing your eschewment of its NAS status. Other than a sample, I doubt I'd buy another bottle of Ardbeg before I finish 5 or 6 of my current Ardbeg bottles.

@Victor, I recently had both Dark Coves side by side, and while I didn't register any black licorice—monolithic or otherwise—I did find the 46% version pretty unremarkable. Sweet & easy.

That 55% version, though—yeah! Punchy & powerful.

@MadSingleMalt It's not hard to argue about any ranking. Except for Bowmore being last, my ranking would be very different from @Victor ranking. I am not saying that for you because I know you are well aware that we don't have the same palate, I myself use formulas like this to establish connivance with other Connosr members, but I just want to say to newbie to not be afraid to disagree. I know a guy for whom Bowmore 18 is the reference to which he mesures all Islay and he is right, it is... For him!

@Robert99, I would like to see your # 1 to 8 ranking of Islay Distilleries. I can guess what that list might be, but I would like to see it.

Now that Diageo has seen the popularity of Lagavulin 8 yo, maybe they would be cheeky enough to give us an OB Caol Ila 8 yo Cask Strength. Why cheeky? Only cheeky with respect to diverging from their 'water it down for maximum profits' corporate policy. They are probably afraid that they won't have enough Caol Ila for their blends if it becomes too popular as a single malt.

Bruichladdich for me. Something for all tastes, super-peaty to unpeated, all sorts of casks including some really unusual experiments Including my favourite whisky of all time theraremaltwhiskycompany.co.uk/product/…

That said.... none of them are bad!

You may have seen my 4 videos about my recent visit to Islay (Sept 2017) - if you have not yet, check out the Ramblings thread on Connosr.

While I really like Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Laphroaig, I did fall in love with Kilchoman and Bruichladdich, but was seriously charmed by Bunnahabhain when I was there. It was not so much on my radar, but now it is.

Having said that, my favorite Islay whisky remains Caol Ila and for two distinct reasons. First: it never, ever disappoints (the same goes for the Unpeated Style, by the way). It's a very consistent whisky in that sense. And second (call me a hopeless malt romantic if you like) I really feel it has quite a few of the hallmarks of Port Ellen.

I always have a couple of Caol Ila on hand. If you are ever on Islay and visit the distillery, do me a favor: bring me another one of those Distillery Only's, eh? I'll make it worth your while :-)

@markjedi1 And a big plus for Caol Ila is that there are tons of IBs out there, which makes the chase neverending (unlike Oban, for example).

It's funny how these things can change. At least for me. A year ago, Lagavulin would have been my number one, no questions asked. Four months ago, it was Ardbeg. Today, I would rank them:

• Laphroaig
• Ardbeg
• Lagavulin
• Caol Ila

I haven't tried enough Kilchoman, Bruichladdich, or Bunnahabhain to form a proper opinion. But I look at Caol Ila in "last" place and it's funny, because I love everything I've tried from them. Even the unpeated stuff (review forthcoming). I guess I just really love Islays.

Upon reflection, while I really enjoyed a couple of one-offs from Bruichladdich and a few of the Laphroaigs and Lagavulins (especially the 12), and Ardbeg Uigeadail is a treat, I think my favourite distillery on Islay is Caol Ila. I find the OB and IB cask strength expressions to be among the most complex of the Islays.

@markjedi1 curious what you might recommend from Caol Ila. I’ve had the DE and the 18 - which I bought on a trip to Scotland last year. I’m interested in expanding my experience with the distillery via their bottlings or IB and would appreciate any insight you could provide re: available/affordable drams from them.