Talking about Whisky

[teamsaint]

Costco have an interesting whisky offering.

Must be a bargain or two in this lot ?

https://www.costco.co.uk/view/c/food-wine-household/spirits/whisky

[Richard Tarleton]

I was delighted to discover, in John Le Carré's Legacy of Spies (see this thread) that Alec Leamas's favourite Scotch was Talisker - perhaps also JleC's? (and mine)

[BBMmk2]

I am going through a rather nicer bottle of Laphraig(spelling?), at the moment. Especially on these cold evenings! a good excuse!

[Dave2002]

LIDL have a few of their Ben Bracken range on offer at present. An Islay, a Speyside and something called Highland. Some Scots I know recommend these quite highly. I think the Islay one is maybe similar to Lagavulin. Currently we're just sampling the Speyside. £17.49 a bottle I think.

[Vox Humana]

I'm a great fan of the Islay malts, particularly the peated ones. My favourite for winter evenings has always been Ardbeg 10 year-old. You won't find a peatier single malt and it doesn't have the medicinal edge of Laphroaig. Others prefer Laphroaig for precisely that reason. In the last year or two I have noticed a tendency for the quality to waver slightly, which never used to be the case, but it's still a reliably fine malt. However, it has just been ousted from my top place by one of my Christmas prezzies to myself - a new expression from the same distillery. Ardbeg An Oa is slightly more pricey but not exorbitantly so, but has the same enormous peat delivery, but coupled with a much more complex spectrum of flavours. I thought it just out of this world.

Outside Islay (and Talisker, which is often regarded as an honorary Islay), peated malts tend to have a gentler, more subtle character. There are two mainland distilleries that can give Islay a run for its money. The little known and greatly under-rated BenRiach distillery produces some peated expressions. Their Curiositas is very reasonably priced and quite peaty, while their Peated Cask Strength Batch no.1 is just tremendous. Knockdhu, who market their malts under the AnCnoc label, produce consistently good expressions. In recent years they have jumped on the peat bandwagon. I much lament the demise of their AnCnoc Rutter, which was absolutely top notch. Alas they did not follow it up with an AnCnoc Chilcott. What they have released is two new peated expressions. AnCnoc Rascan is quite similar to the Rutter: not quite as peaty, perhaps, but full of flavour and very well balanced. Strangely, the other one, Ancnoc Peatheart, is not quite so satisfying. It is probably peatier than the Rascan, but it doesn't have quite the same balance. Still worth trying though.

For a non-peated malt I can very strongly recommend the 2017 bottling of Benromach Organic 2010. It's very rich and complex - and reasonably priced too (£34.84 from Master of Malt).

[Thropplenoggin]

Just yesterday I received a couple of 3cl samples from Master of Malt - both Highland single malts. I was keen to try a different region without the peat/smoke, having found that I have lost my taste for heavily-peated expressions (Ardbeg et al). I went for a Glencadam 10 year old and Balblair 2005 (they do 'vintages' rather than age statements). Both are a beautiful pale gold hue, with no added colourant and non-chill filtered. Tried the Glencadam last night and found it a very pleasant dram, sweet, grassy flavours, with a slightly short finish. My go-to single malt up to now has been Springbank 10 y.o. (recommended by a certain Highlander from round these parts) where the smoke is really in the background. An incredibly complex and refined dram for the money.

[Vox Humana]

Just yesterday I received a couple of 3cl samples from Master of Malt - both Highland single malts. I was keen to try a different region without the peat/smoke, having found that I have lost my taste for heavily-peated expressions (Ardbeg et al). I went for a Glencadam 10 year old and Balblair 2005 (they do 'vintages' rather than age statements). Both are a beautiful pale gold hue, with no added colourant and non-chill filtered. Tried the Glencadam last night and found it a very pleasant dram, sweet, grassy flavours, with a slightly short finish. My go-to single malt up to now has been Springbank 10 y.o. (recommended by a certain Highlander from round these parts) where the smoke is really in the background. An incredibly complex and refined dram for the money.

The Glencadam 10yo is one of the best bang for bucks out there. I find it a very 'clean', refreshing malt. Like Ardbeg it's slightly variable in quality and currently it's a bit more sugary than usual. When the sugar is more subdued it's hard to beat. The 18yo is even better, but whether the hike in quality justifies the considerable hike in price is a moot point.

[Dave2002]

Some deals on whisky at am.uk today - though I don't know if any are particularly good - either the whiskies or the deals - https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=gbps_...TJX0B8WY2621T3

[BBMmk2]

LIDL have a few of their Ben Bracken range on offer at present. An Islay, a Speyside and something called Highland. Some Scots I know recommend these quite highly. I think the Islay one is maybe similar to Lagavulin. Currently we're just sampling the Speyside. £17.49 a bottle I think.

Oh that is interesting to know. I will have to have a look!

[Alain Maréchal]

Some deals on whisky at am.uk today - though I don't know if any are particularly good - either the whiskies or the deals - https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=gbps_...TJX0B8WY2621T3

It is interesting that Amazon observed what day it is, although Google, who go to great lengths to find arcane "anniversaries" for their designers to celebrate, did not. I presume Amazon are spurred by the idea of additional sales.

p.s. Amazon.fr is not promoting whisky - is the Vieille Alliance forgotten?

[Vox Humana]

Some deals on whisky at am.uk today - though I don't know if any are particularly good - either the whiskies or the deals - https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=gbps_...TJX0B8WY2621T3

I might get some stock in. The Bowmore and the Tamnavulin are both very pleasant whiskies. Jim Murray's Whisky Bible (which I find generally reliable) gives the Deanston 12yo a very low score, but rates the Scapa Skiren well

[Dave2002]

Personally I’m not so bothered, but there are offers on Irish whisky at am.uk today. I don’t know if these are good offers.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=gbph_img_m-4_d1b1_4fcb8096?rh=i%3Aalcohol%2Cn%3A340834031%2Cn%3A%21344155031%2Cn%3A358583031&bbn=358583031&hidden-keywords=B008HP9F7Y%7CB074MFFH3Z%7CB00RIB399I%7CB00IWVDGBE%7CB008M4BSUM%7CB0058NZBMQ%7CB005D7UK6E%7CB008M4BUDC&ie=UTF8&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=281c08eb-7f82-43a1-8f40-595441a6d1b1&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=9086177031&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=PPYEHWGCR4Z9WP8RRAZJ

[BBMmk2]

I might get some stock in. The Bowmore and the Tamnavulin are both very pleasant whiskies. Jim Murray's Whisky Bible (which I find generally reliable) gives the Deanston 12yo a very low score, but rates the Scapa Skiren well

Couldn't agree with you more! Two favourites of mine. Going through not a bad bottle at the moment, Tullibardine Sovereign. Matured in Bourbon Barrels. A lovely whisky.

[Beef Oven!]

Having some 'Jura Origin'. Bought a half-bottle for £10 in Sainsbury's this afternoon. Very nice. Slightly sweet, flowery and treacle. A light but bodied nose, very complex palette and pretty long finish. I'm enjoying this a lot more than the bottle of 'Jura Superstition' that I had a while ago.

[Beef Oven!]

Johnnie Walker Black Label. Bought nice and cheaply this evening in the supermarket on account of the Turkish Lira tanking