The lady in The Emporium in Skye reckoned the Smokehead was a young Lagavullin, but I’ve done no more research than that.

The car now stinks of it, overfilled the flask and it’s all soaked into the cover, hope I don’t get pulled over en route to Glenshee tomorrow! :s

Last time I was on Islay locals claimed smokehead was a lagavulin too, it is a nice dram, if you want something a wee bit different try a kilchoman, another Islay malt but not that common, only just released their first 10 year old but even their younger expressions are good I especially like the machir bay

I love Balblair. Small Sutherland based distillery, does releases of years rather than 10 or 15 year olds. Very nice

it was indeed Jura superstition. just checked. was ace with dry ginger tho

That makes more sense!

@cougar: glad I’m not the only one that really found Jura lacking. Haven’t tried them all to be fair.
Islay’s where it’s at; Laphroaig is my regular, currently on an ardbeg uigeadail.

It’s not “lacking” per sé, I really like it. It’s an excellent “gateway” whisky, though if you’re drinking Uigeadail it’s a bit like comparing Coke with four star.

Have you sampled Ardbeggeddon? It’s… exactly what it sounds like, truly something special.

Ardbeggeddon’s going on the Christmas list

Not a Jura fan.
Find all the ones I’ve tried bland and slightly unpleasant.

Glad it’s not just me.

ALDI have a good deal on Abelour 12 at the mo, £24.99.
Much prefer it tbh.

Ardbeggeddon’s going on the Christmas list

Can you find it anywhere? I’ve not seen it available for years (and it was eye-wateringly expensive then).

The definitive answer is Mortlach 16yo. A shame it’s like hens teeth now. 21yo Balvenie Port Wood is an expensive poorer alternative.
Aberlour A’bunadh is a good one.

Dalwhinnie is a good shout I think, everyone loves that don’t they?

Ardbeg perhaps? Edradour is one that I really loved but rarely see for sale – so might make a good gift for the rarity value.

or Old Pulteney, which is pretty much ‘mid taste’ also

But OP is one of the few whiskies that I really can’t stomach, despite appreciating stuff that people regard as similar.

if you want something a wee bit different try a kilchoman

words out of my mouth. the distillery is brilliant, was a farm (still is I suppose) but they’ve converted the outbuildings into a malting floor and distillery room. They grow their own barley as well as malting themselves (most buy in malt) and knock out a very respectable dram.

http://bunnahabhain.com/

18 Year is my favourite whisky, but the 12 is also good for a lower budget. Definitely recommend them both, otherwise anything from Islay gets my vote 🙂

Too many whisky’s and not enough money.

50 quid is a great budget as there are some really good malts around that budget.

I can only recommend what I’ve tasted, so if you’re a peat fan then caol Ila 12 is my favorite. Highland Park 10 and Johnny Walker double black (blended malt) for a cheaper but still great couple to try.

On the non peated side of things you can’t beat glenfarclas 15 for a really complex sherried dram. Probably my all time favorite.
Glenlivet 15 is great too, and reasonably priced.
Glenmorangie do 3 different finished whisky’s at that price point – lasanta, nectar dior and quintana rubana, all worth looking into.
The whisky exchange or amazon are the best places to buy. Amazon usually throw out some good deals too, glenfarclas was 33 quid yesterday!

Talking about whisky I guess I need to top up mine as I am running out …

The Famous Grouse Scotch Whisky £15 per litre so that’s me sorted for Xmas.

Never tried them before but if Prince Philip likes it I shall give it a try.
Isn’t that stuff a bit like Teachers or Bells; whisky for people who don’t know anything about it, and only buy what’s advertised on telly at Christmas?
I bought a bottle of Talisker Skye, and a bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon in Morrison’s this morning for £25 each.
Very partial to a good bourbon, I find JD a bit too harsh on the tongue.
I might pop over to Aldi and Lidl to see what offers they might have going as well.

The Famous Grouse is basically a blend of Macallan and Highland Park, well Black Grouse is so I wouldn’t say that at all.

Another vote for Caol Ila 12, very nice. Lagavulin 16 also excellent and both in budget.

Sheep Dip

I’m particularly partial to Caol Ila myself.

If you fancy east (as opposed to west) then Balvenie floats my boat.

Stayed at the utterly charming Port Charlotte, Islay on a recent biking trip round the islands and now have a bottle of Port Charlotte Heavily Peated from the Bruichladdich distillery. Sweet and smokey smooth heaven in a glass :-). Booths stock it too.

Find what you like and aim close….
Getting the wrong quarter would be unfortunate as the taste could be completely wrong for them.

Another vote for Caol Ila 12, very nice. Lagavulin 16 also excellent and both in budget.

Sadly, I have very little left of my bottle of 1991 Caol Ila Signatory Vintage. 🙁
Got in relatively early from the pub tonight, so I thought I’d put on my new Kate Bush album and enjoy along with som of the last of the Caol Ila.
Now feeling really quite relaxed indeed, at 1.03am… 😀

Aberlour cask strength,surprisingly smooth for its 61.2 % 😯
about 40 pounds in waitrose

As it’s a gift, why not something a bit different, English Whisky, the Cask Strength is particularly good:

https://www.englishwhisky.co.uk/online-shop/english-whisky/chapter-6-cask-strength-53

Do you mean Whisky or Whiskey?

Both are accepted spellings for the same thing, so why do we have to do this every time?

Anyway, my local offie sells a MacPhail bottling of Bunnahabhain – much peatier than the standard stuff. I like it a lot. It’s terrific value, too.

https://www.thegreenwellystop.co.uk/whiskyshop/bunnahabhain-8-year-old-whisky-heavily-peated/prod_2882.html

Very partial to a good bourbon, I find JD a bit too harsh on the tongue.

JD isn’t bourbon.

Both are accepted spellings for the same thing, so why do we have to do this every time?

The reason it’s spelt differently is because the Irish wanted to distance themselves from the muck the Scots were producing at the time.

The reason it’s spelt differently is because the Irish wanted to distance themselves from the muck the Scots were producing at the time.

I know the history and preferred usage, but to suggest that they are different products is not correct.

Count Zero – is that Signatory Bottled Caol Isla good? My favourite whisky shop in Tokyo has some for a good price and I’m tempted.

Next time I have £50 spare I’m going to get a bottle of Blair Atholl. You’ll not see it in the supermarkets, only at the distillery and a few specialists (and, for whatever reason, some Edinburgh Woollen Mills) so it’s a bit of a treat for someone who’d normally buy whisky from the supermarket (like me).

It’s relatively easy drinking but very tasty, I was really taken with it.

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/383/blair-athol-12-year-old

21yo Balvenie Port Wood

Is that what it sounds like?

I bought a Talisker Port Ruighe which was aged in Port Casks, the first time I smelt it (immediately after smelling and trying three other Taliskers) I could definitely smell the Port, after that it was just a nice whisky.

Definitely a fan of whisky aged in Port casks, although someone warned me that some of the ‘Port’ whiskies (like the Dalmore I think) had just been washed* through Port casks, as opposed to aged in them.

*or something like that, not ‘aged in’ basically

FWIW picked up a bottle of Glenlivet Founders Reserve in Asda last night for £20

Jura Asda is too common and attainable

😉
😆

Caol Ila 12yr gets my vote. I’m gonna search for this cask strength version mentioned earlier…

This is slightly OT but if any of you find yourselves in Stockholm I can highly recommend the Ardbeg Embassy on Gamla Stan. Their whisky list is expensively impressive…

Whisky List

Both are accepted spellings for the same thing, so why do we have to do this every time?

Because some people need to take their victories where they can find them?

Definitely a fan of whisky aged in Port casks, although someone warned me that some of the ‘Port’ whiskies (like the Dalmore I think) had just been washed* through Port casks, as opposed to aged in them.

*or something like that, not ‘aged in’ basically

Dunno about that, but typically it’ll be what they call a “finish.” It’ll be aged in bourbon barrels but transferred to a port (or whatever) barrel for the last six months before bottling.

I’ve never heard of either fully maturing whisky in a port barrel or just rinsing it through. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, just that I’ve never heard of it (I know a bit about whisky but am far from an expert).

21yo Balvenie Port Wood

Is that what it sounds like?[/quote]

Yes, it is, and bloody lovely it is too. The Mortlach’s just better 😉

The Wine Society used to do a cracking bottling of Mortlach, but as swamis says, it’s been harder to find and /or very expensive 🙁

CountZero – Member

Talking about whisky I guess I need to top up mine as I am running out …
The Famous Grouse Scotch Whisky £15 per litre so that’s me sorted for Xmas.
Never tried them before but if Prince Philip likes it I shall give it a try.

Isn’t that stuff a bit like Teachers or Bells; whisky for people who don’t know anything about it, and only buy what’s advertised on telly at Christmas?
I bought a bottle of Talisker Skye, and a bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon in Morrison’s this morning for £25 each.
Very partial to a good bourbon, I find JD a bit too harsh on the tongue.
I might pop over to Aldi and Lidl to see what offers they might have going as well. [/quote] Hmmm … Guess I might need to buy a bottle of Talisker Skye too … arrghhh … my Old Pulteney and Dalwhinnie are finishing soon. I always have two bottles at anytime. My Mount Gay Rum is also 1/4 left. Bloody hell will be expensive to stock up this year. However, I have a new bottle of London Gin.

Just opened a bottle of Haig club that someone gave me. I was suspicious of it immediately. This suspicion ramped up when I realised it was the stuff Mr Beckham was, I assume, paid an inordinate amount of money to plug. I like Mr B but don’t have him down as a whisky connoisseur (not that I qualify either).

That said, it’s a bit weird. I’m not giving it back or tipping it away but I shan’t be drinking it again. Once the bottles gone obviously.

Edit: actually, that third glass seems to have improved matters…….

yeah i got a bottle to haig club cheap too

its fine if you like whisky that doesn’t taste of owt