I’ve also got as a side note an Islay as we get it which is a 3 year old ardbeg and nice , very sweet and a nice neat dram which is mad as it’s 58.something percent

I guess that could be the Smokehead?

Bottle of quality malt, and a bottle of cheap malt.

Drink the good stuff till somewhat merry then switch to the cheap stuff.

Drink the good stuff till somewhat merry then switch to the cheap stuff.

Sound advice.

Also all this young whisky floating around, I can’t abide it. If it tastes alright it’s because it’s had older whiskies blended in surely. 3 year old whisky is pure turps (well the one or two I’ve had so not exactly conclusive).

ive had a nice laphroaig that was stored in an old ardbeg barrel and it was lovely albeit a bit confusing to the palate lol

This sounds like something worth seeking out.

Absolutely no reason not to add a splash of Ardbeg to a dram of Laphroaig and see what you end up with.

Put a few drops of Uigeadail in a young, peated Bunnahabhain the other day and it was a significant improvement.

Could well be tennishoes,

I like to play around with the odd drop of something in something else lol

I also use guard whiskys in my cupboard that sit in a row to guard the stuff behind lol and the really top stuff behind that then the stuff I’m saving for a special time, ive 6 rows of stuff 🙂

I also use guard whiskys in my cupboard that sit in a row to guard the stuff behind lol and the really top stuff behind that then the stuff I’m saving for a special time, ive 6 rows of stuff 🙂

Crikey.

There was a time in my life when I had, I think, maybe 5 bottles of whisky in my possession at once, and I thought I was doing well 😂

These days it’s a Christmas/birthday treat, but I now dream of guard rows!

The Smokehead tip sounds good tho, will keep an eye out for that 👍

Tom over covid my guard has also slipped into the wifes gin cabinet lol ive gone through a lot this last year just bought more , im going to have to move the special ones to a new place as ive a smws bottle arriving today too doh.. and santa is due soon he got me 6 bottles last year 😁

@firestarter Can you introduce me to your Santa because mine is rubbish.

🤣🤣

Talisker 10 is £27 on Amazon at the mo.

Talisker 10 is £27 on Amazon at the mo.

just been googling it, its a peaty one. for someone who prefers smooth speysides, and thought laphroig was pure TCP when i first tasted it, do you think itd be a good trial to see if i could get to like peaty now?

i hated laphroig back in the day but that was when i didnt like whisky at all, i think it put me off. since discovering speysides and getting through a fair few bottles of the different makes, is talisker a decent ‘not toooo peaty’ drink? and if not, any suggestions? itd open up a whole load more whiskies to me if i got to actually like the TCP types.

or should i just drink neat TCP for a while so that laphroig/talisker seem mild when i eventually try them 😆

Bowmore 12 is a good soft introduction, look out for the offers.

I’d say Highland park 12 is a very mellow intro. After enjoying whisky for 10+years if still only just heading toward the smoke. This chart which I’m sure you’ve seen before gives you an idea of flavour profiles, https://www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/whiskyflavourmap.htm

Have a look at Benromach 10. A Speysider with a moderate level of peat…

do you think itd be a good trial to see if i could get to like peaty now?

Ardbeg is the most-approachable (and my favourite) Islay, IMO. Did you ever try that?

As above, Bowmore is also less fierce than some – and you can get the 12 year old for £27 on Amazon at the mo.

Another option is to get one of the cheaper, milder non-age expression bottles like Laphroaig Select, Bowmore No 1 or Talisker Skye.

I think these are partly intended as “beginners” versions of their core whiskies.

went to tesco today armed with a list of those recommendations ^^^ aaaaand…….

Bowmore 12 is a good soft introduction, look out for the offers.

£11 off down to mid £20’s, took a punt, and youre right on the money. i get a bit of peaty taste but as you say, its not overpowering and a good introduction. i’ll keep at it with a few nightcaps over the next day or two and see how i like it compared to my other purchase, a ‘safe’ glenmorangie, also on offer for about the same price.

thank you very much.

Morrisons have lots on offer, sitting sipping a Dalwhinnie Winter Gold it was £25.

do you think itd be a good trial

Sorry… missed this… the answer is no. It’s for smoke lovers.

Bowmore 12 was a great suggestion. Perfect. We have a bit of that left from last year’s pre-Xmas deals.

None of the others suggested would suit the peat cautious seeking great flavour. Some are a bit less Smokey, but also not very smooth (harsh even). You picked out the right one from the suggestions for sure.

Of my exclusively peaty collection, I find Ardbeg an Oa to be the smoothest, although suspect it’s still relatively strong!

A Peated Talisker would be a nice experiment…

@sadexpunk Nikka “from the barrel” is an ace introduction to peated whiskey.

You can taste the TCP (just) but in a very moorish way.

Regarding peat levels, a useful guide is to look into ppm (phenol parts per million) figures for different whiskies. The distilleries don’t always publish them but a bit of Googling usually comes up with an answer.

Light to medium peating is usually in the range of 15-30ppm. 35 and upwards would be more heavily peated.

Ppm doesn’t always tell the full story as the flavour profile of a particular distillery can influence how the peat comes across – Laphroaig for example is known for its medicinal character, whereas a something like a Lagavulin 16 may come across as more rounded even if the ppm is similar.

A quick Google gives a few examples from common malts:
Ardbeg 10 – 55ppm
Laphroaig 10 – 45
Lagavulin 16 – 35-40
Bowmore 12 – 20-25
Highland Park 12 – 20
Talisker 10 – 16-22

For anyone interested, it’s worth checking out the ppms for Bruichladdich’s Octomore series which are off the scale! They don’t exactly fall into the category of cheap malt whisky though!

As we are into Christmas week I opened my Bowmore 12. Never tried it before. I may have a new favourite. I’m expecting a Laphroig 10 (my current favourite) from Santa. A back to back tasting required.

Mmmm, I’ve a Bowmore 12 half drunk. Om nom.

well, what a 180 degree turn for me…..

from asking about smooth whisky and being recommended glenmorangie, speysides and the like, ive now taken a shine to the Bowmore 12 recommended above and then gambled on the previously ‘yuk, tastes like TCP’ Laphroaig. and i love it now.

weird, but im now finding the smooth ones just dont ‘hit that spot’ any more. polished off that bottle in a couple of weeks and now enjoying an ardmore and jura 10. im finding whisky has now taken over from rum as my favourite spirit, something id never have dreamed of a few years ago.

*goes off to find that chart for more peaty whiskies*

Lagavulin 8 at tesco;)

ive now taken a shine to the Bowmore 12 recommended above and then gambled on the previously ‘yuk, tastes like TCP’ Laphroaig. and i love it now

Welcome onboard! Now, don’t push the price up. 😉

I’m trying young tipples now for cost reasons. Talisker Skye is a winner, and so is Laphroig quarter cask. Try and pick up both when they’re on offer.

Talisker Skye is a winner, and so is Laphroig quarter cask. Try and pick up both when they’re on offer.

always learning…. id read (on here most likely) that a rule of thumb is those whiskies with a number after it are better quality, Bowmore 12, Jura 10 etc etc.
just had a look at those two you recommend and they seem to be described as ‘un-aged’. whilst its obvious what that means literally, what exactly does it mean for the quality of the drink?
id also got laphroaig select written down as one to try.

Some non-age are really good, others really miss what’s good about their “proper” age certified namesakes, in my experience.

Really didn’t like the Select non-age Laphroaig that much, or the Storm non-age Talisker. All a bit hit and miss with the young versions of single malts. The two versions I listed are really good though.

Made of money? Just get 12 year old versions and avoid risking a poor drink.

a rule of thumb is those whiskies with a number after it are better quality

Having an age statement for a single malt used to be pretty much the default and by and large the time invested in maturing means that you’re likely to get a better whisky. This isn’t always the case though, an 18 year old will usually cost more than a 12, if only because its storage, evaporative loss and relative scarcity says it should but it won’t always get you a more enjoyable dram.

Whiskies with no age statement let the distillery blend for a particular taste without being limited to a minimum age of the barrels used. In theory this gives more flexibility in what they can produce both in variety and volume, in practice a lot of the product is a triumph of marketing over quality. Personally I’d lump Talisker Skye and Laphroaig Select into that category, along with gimmicky stuff like Winter’s Gold. On the other hand the no age statement Ardbeg Uigedail is excellent and Laphroaig’s Quarter Cask is a budget gem of a dram

Just finished an Aberlour which was ok but not enough fire for me. Was going to get a Jura 10 on special in Tesco as this is nice but saw a Highland Park (dragon legend) £30 so thought I’d give it a go. Liking so far. Quite smokey with ok depth.

Penderyn Legend is £22 at Morrisons

Penderyn Madeira is £26 at Waitrose

Their Sherrywood confused me at first and then became my top tipple shortly thereafter! ✨🥃✨

Anyone tried the Legend or Madeira. Sorely tempted to take a punt on the latter if reviews and the Sherrywood are anything to go by.

If you want a rule of thumb for buying good whisky, go for something that is 46% ABV or above.

If you want a rule of thumb for buying good whisky, go for something that is 46% ABV or above.

This. It’s a useful way to avoid stuff that’s been chill filtered (which removes flavour) and no one reduces to 40% to improve taste, only to make it cheaper to produce. I personally tend to avoid stuff that’s been coloured too. It’s much harder to find but there’s still some reasonably priced indie bottlings out there, http://www.whiskybroker.co.uk still put out some single cask bottlings under £40.

I’m trying young tipples now for cost reasons. Talisker Skye is a winner,

I have a bottle. In my view it’s too sweet, and not a patch on their 10 y.o.

I have the 10 year old as well, so have compared the two. I think the Skye edges it. Just. I miss the 12 year old… it’s been completely unaffordable for a long time now though.

Managed to land a Penderyn (Madeira Finish £12 off until 22nd) from the local Waitrose after a new delivery. They said the first lot sold out quickly (as I was disappointed the day before)

Different again to the Sherrywood. Looks once more like I’ll need to spend some time getting to know it 😋

Also from Sainsbury’s Check the reviews.

PSA: Lidl also seem now to be regularly stocking the 85% dark chocolate again tip: they go together like single malt and chocolate

weird, but im now finding the smooth ones just dont ‘hit that spot’ any more

Haha, they do a job as a palette cleanser between Islays.

😉

In theory this gives more flexibility in what they can produce both in variety and volume, in practice a lot of the product is a triumph of marketing over quality. Personally I’d lump Talisker Skye and Laphroaig Select into that category, along with gimmicky stuff like Winter’s Gold.

wifes just rang me to tell me shes bought me a laphroaig select from asda. i’d got the select mixed up with the quarter cask and told her the wrong one. could be an expensive (to me anyway) mistake.

It’s not undrinkable to be fair, similar to some of the supermarket own-brand Islays IIRC.

I prefer the Laphroig Select to Aldi or Lidl Islay malts. I’ve just finished an Aldi and have the Select “in stock” so have tasted them virtually side by side. It isn’t as good as the Quarter Cask or the 10 but a perfectly good malt. I’d take it before many more expensive Speyside or Highland malts though that is just personal taste.

Just post Christmas and a birthday. Plus the Johnny Walker from my neighbour as a thank you for fixing the joint fence.