Not on the strip but I hear the whiskey attic is worth traveling off strip to visit:

http://whiskyattic.com

Whisky fans,



Phew. Lot of whiskey. Here's the lineup and brief notes. A few of us tried to guess them too, but mostly we were just picking which ones we liked.

Scapa 16 - underwhelming, light smoke, light sweet, not really balanced. Nobody hated it, nobody loved it.

Glenrothes 95 - very rich sweetness, most of us guessed this one right. Most people really liked this one.

Glenfarclas 17 - another pretty mild one, everyone liked it perfectly fine but didn't blow anyone away.

Cragganmore 12 - least favorite overall, though a couple of people liked it OK. Had a harsh note to it without a ton of flavor and a tart almost astringent fruity note on the finish.

Macallan 18 - everyone guessing got this one right, was pretty obvious classic smokey Macallan flavor with a sweet finish. Nobody was a big fan of this one.

Imperial 1995 - a very nice one. A little bit of a bite on this one, and a nice balance of light smoke and nice sweetness. I liked it a lot and thought it might be the Balvenie 12. nobody picked it right.

Nikka 12 - most people liked this one and everyone guessing picked it as the Jura Superstition because it was by far the smokiest thing we had. I liked it but thought it was a little bit hot. The guy who brought it didn't like it and thought it was too smokey and left it for me. I made him take a bottle of Talisker 10, which he really liked.

Balvenie 12 Doublewood - a few people identified this right and everyone really liked it. This was one of my favorites, nice balance of smoke and sweetness, and very smooth. Surprising how well it held up in this lineup.

Jura Superstition - almost flat tasting, pretty light kind of off smoke taste. This one didn't do it for me, and most people weren't much of a fan. Nobody guessed this one right.

Glenburgie 13 - this one was one of my favorites. Quite sweet, very tart plummy/stonefruit flavor. Reminded me of Glenmorangie Companta, Bruichladdich Black Art, etc. A couple of people hated it and guessed it was the Nikka because it did not taste very scotch-like at all.

There was one late addition, a Glendronach 19. Another very different whisky and a great one to end the night on. Lot of rich sweetness w/ coffee/chocolate notes to this. A great dessert scotch, reminded me of the Glenmorangie Signet.

I highly recommend the blind tasting format, it's really fun to evaluate without knowing what they are.

Getting into a balvenie carribean cask shortly

Diablo,

that's a lot of bottles! I tried to do a tasting with friends last year but didn't have a quorum. I'll try again this year.

Surprised the Macallan 18 didn't blow anyone away. I thought it was really good, though a bit overpriced. Whoever brought it dropped so good $$ on it!

Interesting how tastes differ....

I've just picked up a bottle of the 15yo after trying the 10yo at a tasting. I wouldn't say that it's mild at all, in fact it seems quite rich and a bit spicy to me. It was my favourite one at the tasting (except for the obvious Lagavulin) and I'm really enjoying the 15yo and would definitely recommend.

Did you not find this one really fruity? The one thing I remember about it is a very strong raisiny taste.

I have a bottle of this on the go at the moment. I'm not a massive fan of sweetness and sherry cask matured whisky but imo they've got the balance just about right. I'd say it's a nice whisky but nothing special.

Something interesting would be to nominate a bottle that a bunch of people in this thread haven't tried, then we all go out and buy it and post a review up, preferably without reading anybody elses review first. Would be interesting to see how tastes differ.

I like this idea. The challenge will be to find a bottle no one in the thread has tried, due to the ranges in preferences and geographical locations.

True, there are lots of small and relatively unknown distilleries but then the problem would be availability. I guess it doesn't have to be one that no-one's tried, maybe just a less obvious one (ie not Macallan, Talisker, Bowmore, Glenfiddich etc).

i`m in.
i heard great things about the `Aberlour 12 Yr Non-Chilled Filtered`

(but sadly was always sold out when i ordered a new whisky) americans can get it at totalwine and it isn`t that expansive.

another 1 is the new bunnahabhain 8(Heavily Peated) from gordon macfail (36$)

i would to try.americans can get that at http://www.klwines.com/

PR,

Nice idea. I think it would work just as well with common whiskies. Could do one every week or two and whoever has it or wants to get it can post a review, and could alternate between common and rarer whiskies.

true but for me the 15 year old is the sweet spot if it comes to bang for the buck and the next better 1 in my eyes is the 21 year old.
the 17 is a bit too oaky for me and the 18 too sweet.

How about we make a list of a few candidate distilleries and see if we can agree on one?

I'll start by listing some stuff I haven't tried or I'm not too familiar with (and that I'd like to try):

Bowmore
Old Pulteney
Glenfarclas
Dalmore
Tomatin
Glenrothes

i`m surprised that u don`t wanna try the Bunnahabhain 8

I have Bunnahabhain 12 and 21 at home, and love them both. Did you mean the 18?

nup this 1
http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1057868
thought if we take a cheap 1 more people could join

Oh I see, didn't notice your post above. Unfortunately it's sold out according to the link.

Whisky tasters,

March whisky tasting: Laphroaig Quarter Cask

Grab a bottle or visit a bar for a drink. Post your review here. Put Laphroaig Quarter Cask Review at the top of your post and put spoiler tags around your review.

If you've had it in the past, posting about that doesn't count. Only post a review if you're drinking it now and are posting fresh in your mind tasting thoughts.

To participate, post a review and hold off reading any reviews until you've posted yours.

Don't post any discussion re: other reviews until April 1.

Great, I have a bottle at home that I haven't touched in a couple of months.

Diablo, I suggest using spoilers after the title so people who frequently read the thread don't get influenced by accidentally reading someone else's review.

ET,

Good idea, added.

this is last years bottle,thats the 1 i tried.

Went to a bar last night and tried a couple of whiskeys I've never had before.

Glenmorangie 18: I thought it was pretty bland. Very similar to the 10 but maybe a bit more refined, but I thought it lacked any complexity and that it was very sweet. I had been close to buying a bottle because I read some good reviews, but I'm glad I passed.

Glenfarclas 17: I've had this one before and wasn't too impressed but I wanted to give it another try. Same general impression, it's a good enough whisky, you can tell the sherry maturation, but it's not a sherry bomb like the Glendronach 15.

Bowmore 12: I'm having a hard time remembering anything about this one, which means that it wasn't too remarkable. Smokey, maybe a little sweet, but can't remember much more.

Since I left the bar without wanting to buy a new bottle I'm going to call it a successful whisky drinking night

so if u wanna have a new bottle your evening is ruined

It is because the guilt of buying ANOTHER bottle consumes me. However, it is all forgotten the day I enjoy the new bottle!

Talking about new bottles... I saw you reviewed Old Pulteney 12 a while back. Do you have an opinion regarding the 12/17/21? Namely, is it worth spending the extra $$ on the 17 and 21? For reference, the prices for them where I am are $37/$110/$130.

i had the 17 a while back and liked it (even so not enough to pay the huge payjump from the 12)but i loved the 21(have it at home too)
funny that u ask me about old pulteney,i`m going to a OP tasting friday,mainly there new travel value range but i`m sure we will get the standart range too.
the 21 is a top whisky the 17 better than average-good whisky.
would write review about the 21 but i`m not sure i can do it,since the laphi thing isn`t finished yet.
both are salty for sure and have maritim flavours but a bit different than bunnahabhain.
try the 12 first if u like that taste.

Hi. Rejoining for the first time since the password/security issues ages ago. Want to thank all the regular posters in this thread for sharing their thoughts. I hope to be posting a Laphroaig QC review soon. Here is my current stocking. As you can see, a few of my selections are highly inspired by this thread.

The Octomore and the independent Laphroaig are unopened. The Jim Beam and Glenfiddich are old bottles that have been untouched for ages.

The Maker's is the most recent purchase. Gotta get ready for julep season. (I'll probably use the Jim Beam for that too.)

Yeah I like the maritime flavor and that's why I'm looking at the Old Pulteney. I will probably go buy the 12 since it's really cheap and if I really like it I'll shell out for the 21.

BTW I think you can feel free to review any whisky, the Laphy thing should not exclude from posting other reviews unrelated to that. And if you can do a review of their travel line that would be awesome too. I have some international travel coming up next month and you never know what you can find in the duty free shops.