Puff Daddy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2007
- Messages
- 6,910
- Reaction score
- 98
Finally broke down and got a bottle. The grand monarch of malts from the Queen of the Hebrides, Islay. A lot of build up and expectation to trying this one.
First the short and sweet down and dirty. Yes, it's very, very good, and is a very refined malt. It stands out above it's neighbors Ardbeg and Laphroaig as far as that goes, it's much more genteel and royal, and it definitely has plenty of smoke. But, it lacks the bold complexity that both Ardbeg and Laphroaig possess.
I like it. In fact, I took some to my brothers house on sunday when the family gathered for mothers day and he was quite impressed. I was quite impressed. It's sweet on the arrival, the sweetness sticks around and mingles with the smoke, there's a little spice in the background. The nose is sweet smoke, buttery, vegetal. It lacks the phenolic blast, the oiliness, the medicinal qualities of it's cousins. It's smoother and easier to drink than it's cousins. The finish is long, stays sweet, but not overly honeyed or syrupy like some Speysiders can be.
In my own mind, if I'd not known it's provenance and someone handed me that first glass to taste blindly, I'd have guessed it was a reaaly great Highland malt that was built on peated barley. It seems that way to me, more like a Highland whisky in nature than an Islay malt, probably because my only experiences with Islay malts are the 10 year old versions of Ardbeg and Laphroaig.
If I were ranking it in a group with all scotch single malts in general I'd rank it very, very high, right below Aberlour A'Bunadh, and that's saying a lot, as that stuff is damned amazing! But ranking it as an Islay, representing the storied bold whiskies of that faire isle, I'd still rank Ardbeg higher simply because Ardbeg 10 is the most impressive peat bomb, phenolic, oily, frikkin amazing multi dimensional representation I've come across.
So I can say that it's damned fine stuff, I'd buy it again to break out on special occasions (it's prohibitively pricey), but I was also just ever so slightly disappointed that it wasn't the King of the peated whiskies. But, admittedly, that's my own preconcieved and barely educated notions about what I should have expected. Very likely that, in time and with more Islays under my belt, my opinion might change on that part.
First the short and sweet down and dirty. Yes, it's very, very good, and is a very refined malt. It stands out above it's neighbors Ardbeg and Laphroaig as far as that goes, it's much more genteel and royal, and it definitely has plenty of smoke. But, it lacks the bold complexity that both Ardbeg and Laphroaig possess.
I like it. In fact, I took some to my brothers house on sunday when the family gathered for mothers day and he was quite impressed. I was quite impressed. It's sweet on the arrival, the sweetness sticks around and mingles with the smoke, there's a little spice in the background. The nose is sweet smoke, buttery, vegetal. It lacks the phenolic blast, the oiliness, the medicinal qualities of it's cousins. It's smoother and easier to drink than it's cousins. The finish is long, stays sweet, but not overly honeyed or syrupy like some Speysiders can be.
In my own mind, if I'd not known it's provenance and someone handed me that first glass to taste blindly, I'd have guessed it was a reaaly great Highland malt that was built on peated barley. It seems that way to me, more like a Highland whisky in nature than an Islay malt, probably because my only experiences with Islay malts are the 10 year old versions of Ardbeg and Laphroaig.
If I were ranking it in a group with all scotch single malts in general I'd rank it very, very high, right below Aberlour A'Bunadh, and that's saying a lot, as that stuff is damned amazing! But ranking it as an Islay, representing the storied bold whiskies of that faire isle, I'd still rank Ardbeg higher simply because Ardbeg 10 is the most impressive peat bomb, phenolic, oily, frikkin amazing multi dimensional representation I've come across.
So I can say that it's damned fine stuff, I'd buy it again to break out on special occasions (it's prohibitively pricey), but I was also just ever so slightly disappointed that it wasn't the King of the peated whiskies. But, admittedly, that's my own preconcieved and barely educated notions about what I should have expected. Very likely that, in time and with more Islays under my belt, my opinion might change on that part.
. Very happy to see you posting, we miss you good sir! A very happy Christmas holiday to you and yours :santa: . You should put your old Santa avatar back up :twisted:
