I'm going to pick up a bottle of Te Bheag tonight and give it a try.
If you haven't done this yet.....do this. Very very good. The flavours are so balanced and full. My girlfriend even thought it was incredible and she hasn't really been into scotch yet. This seems to be changing now. For the money you can't beat it.
While it's more expensive than the 10-year used to be, the Laphroaig "Quarter Cask" is still very nice for $63.95. Although you have to be careful; like wine, I've found that it goes bad (loses some smoky flavours and gets somewhat bitter) if it gets too much oxygen, so be sure to keep it well corked... and you shouldn't plan to savour it over year or more; probably best to finish it within a few months of opening. If you don't believe me, pour a dram in the evening, have half, then try it again in the morning. Blah!!
I didn't know Caol Ila made an 8 year old.. seems kinda young. Are you sure you don't mean 18 year old.
I've tried the 12 year old..
It's an Islay but not as strong as Lagavulin.
I think there is a lot of it in Johnny Walker.
pretty sure it said 8 which is why I resurrected the thread. There was only one bottle and I even read the price tag to make sure the box/bottle hadn't been placed in the wrong area. Can't find it on the website so I might have been horribly mistaken and missed the 1 before the 8. But the 18 is listed at 102 on the site. No matter, I'm still working my way up through the 50-70 dollar bottles.
But that's nothing compared with the $35,000.00 bottle of Louis XIII champaign they had in the cabinet that one blew my mind. What's funnier is that it was 34,999.80 plus 20 cent deposit.
I tried this year's Caol Ila "Distiller's Edition" at the tasting room (aka "clock tower") at the flagship Summerhill LCBO in Toronto. Then I immediately bought a bottle. In my opinion, it's better than this year's Lagavulin "Distiller's Edition", and about $25 cheaper per bottle.
I don't know anything about the 8-year-old Caol Ila. I know the 12-year-old Lagavulin often sells for as much as the 16-year-old, probably because they don't release much of it (most is kept in oak for 16+ years). Might be the same idea with the Caol Ila.
I've opened a bottle of Lagavulin 16... I've had the bottle for about 8 years...
Is it me or has the quality of this stuff gone downhill a lot.
It used to be my favorite, Now it tastes like rat piss..
It used to be the best whiskey per dollar bar none!!
Now it's expensive and shitty
Disappointed.
Whisky doesn't necessarily age well in the bottle. Could your quark/seal have leaked? Oxygen + whisky + 8 years = rat piss (to varying extents, depending on the whisky - see post #53 above).
Whisky doesn't necessarily age well in the bottle. Could your quark/seal have leaked? Oxygen + whisky + 8 years = rat piss (to varying extents, depending on the whisky - see post #53 above).
I've tried it again,
This time it tastes great!!
I take back all the awful things I said about Lagavulin.
Yes, the same bottle, I might have had something in the glass , or maybe my taste was off that day, or maybe there was something on the neck of the bottle ...
Given all that I'm still looking for a scotch to replace Lagavulin 16 as my best buy favorite. IThe price has more than doubled in the last few years... It used to be the best value in scotch ...
I picked up a couple of blends recently - mainly for poker players and/or people who are already drunk from something else and won't appreciate the good stuff anyway. Islay Mist "8 year old" ($30) and something by McClelland (will check which when I get home). The former is pretty good; nice complexity, and not quite as smokey as Te Bheag ($37). The latter tastes like rat piss.
Given all that I'm still looking for a scotch to replace Lagavulin 16 as my best buy favorite. IThe price has more than doubled in the last few years... It used to be the best value in scotch ...
Suggestions?
Sorry, I'm not there yet. still working my way up through the various choices. So far I'm very partial to the Laphroig quarter cask.
Brought some Talisker 18 back from the USA. Haven't been able to find it in Ontario (besides in small format in the Talisker sampler) for about 2 years. Plan to enjoy some this weekend.
Brought some Talisker 18 back from the USA. Haven't been able to find it in Ontario (besides in small format in the Talisker sampler) for about 2 years. Plan to enjoy some this weekend.
That said, it in no way replaces Lagavulin 16, but to be fair that's too much to expect.
I picked up some Lagavulin 16 when I was in quebec as it is $20 cheaper at the SAQ than at the LCOB. Need to give it a few more rounds before I weigh in on it. At first attempt I'm still siding with the Laphroaig as it just has that incredible pete smoke. But I'm into over the top flavours. need to set them up side by side and pick out the difference.
This is an expensive little habit. But so worth it.
Because I'm bored tonight I finally decided to go through all my bottles of scotch:
JW Blue
JW Gold
Glenmorangie Port Wood
Glenmorangie 10
Glenlivet 12 - my std scotch
Longmorn 15
Bowmore Darkest Islay
Wierd, I could have sworn I had more than that.
That's quite a collection, Tell us about them!!
I've never tried JW Blue or Gold or the Glenmorangie Port Wood, What are they like?
Glenmorangie 10 is wonderful stuff...
I'm a big fan of the Glenlivet 12 too!!!!
Never heard of Longmoran 15.
What's the Bowmore Darkest Islay like?
Well JW are blends. Usually what I like to do when introducing scotch I line up in order:
A bottle of bargain basement Lauder's blended scotch
Red
Black
Green
Gold
Blue
(depending on what's avail)
and man can you really taste the difference quality makes. Invariably each successive tasting the person goes wow that is better. Then I put the Gold and Blue away and let them pick from any of the ones they have tasted or they can try some of my other scotch's.
The Bowmore is one of my favourites but as I said when I run out, I always go back to the Glenlivet as my std scotch.
Looking at the price of Blue now, I have to brag that I picked it up on my 10th wedding anniversary on a cruise ship of all places. Not only was the price good but I got 10% off on the first night of the cruise so I paid something like $110 US for it. I went a little crazy that day and grabbed a bottle of Remy XO too.
I always thought Japan was the "big" market for Scotch? Interesting that Glenfiddich is sourcing different barrels for aging.
As an aside, my favourite distiller (Still Waters) started bottling their single malt whiskey almost a year ago. It is young (at 3 years in the cask), but it is getting very good reviews across the board. $70.00 for 45% abv, and $100.00 for cask strength. I have actually started to acquire a taste for it, and am slowly branching out toward other scotches.
Comments
If you haven't done this yet.....do this. Very very good. The flavours are so balanced and full. My girlfriend even thought it was incredible and she hasn't really been into scotch yet. This seems to be changing now. For the money you can't beat it.
Johnny walker FTMFW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Will give a review. Not much of one as I'm not very good with describing the experience (see my Te Bhaeg comments above :-)
Cheers,
Good advice, thanks,
The 8 year old was $140 which shocked me. is it that good?
Wow that's very expensive for an 8 year old!!!!
I didn't know Caol Ila made an 8 year old.. seems kinda young. Are you sure you don't mean 18 year old.
I've tried the 12 year old..
It's an Islay but not as strong as Lagavulin.
I think there is a lot of it in Johnny Walker.
pretty sure it said 8 which is why I resurrected the thread. There was only one bottle and I even read the price tag to make sure the box/bottle hadn't been placed in the wrong area. Can't find it on the website so I might have been horribly mistaken and missed the 1 before the 8. But the 18 is listed at 102 on the site. No matter, I'm still working my way up through the 50-70 dollar bottles.
But that's nothing compared with the $35,000.00 bottle of Louis XIII champaign they had in the cabinet
I've opened a bottle of Lagavulin 16... I've had the bottle for about 8 years...
Is it me or has the quality of this stuff gone downhill a lot.
It used to be my favorite, Now it tastes like rat piss..
It used to be the best whiskey per dollar bar none!!
Now it's expensive and shitty
Disappointed.
I haven't tried them yet so have no first hand experience, this is just what's out there.
I don't know anything about the 8-year-old Caol Ila. I know the 12-year-old Lagavulin often sells for as much as the 16-year-old, probably because they don't release much of it (most is kept in oak for 16+ years). Might be the same idea with the Caol Ila.
I've tried it again,
This time it tastes great!!
I take back all the awful things I said about Lagavulin.
same bottle? maybe your taste was off that day.
New bottle? good on ya for trying again.
Yes, the same bottle, I might have had something in the glass , or maybe my taste was off that day, or maybe there was something on the neck of the bottle ...
Given all that I'm still looking for a scotch to replace Lagavulin 16 as my best buy favorite. IThe price has more than doubled in the last few years... It used to be the best value in scotch ...
Suggestions?
Sorry, I'm not there yet. still working my way up through the various choices. So far I'm very partial to the Laphroig quarter cask.
This is a very good value for the money.
Maybe the best value for the money.
I'd highly recommend it as a starter scotch for someone who might be interested in trying out scotch.
That said, it in no way replaces Lagavulin 16, but to be fair that's too much to expect.
I like the 10 year old.
I've heard the 18 is awesome!
I picked up some Lagavulin 16 when I was in quebec as it is $20 cheaper at the SAQ than at the LCOB. Need to give it a few more rounds before I weigh in on it. At first attempt I'm still siding with the Laphroaig as it just has that incredible pete smoke. But I'm into over the top flavours. need to set them up side by side and pick out the difference.
This is an expensive little habit. But so worth it.
JW Blue
JW Gold
Glenmorangie Port Wood
Glenmorangie 10
Glenlivet 12 - my std scotch
Longmorn 15
Bowmore Darkest Islay
Wierd, I could have sworn I had more than that.
That's quite a collection, Tell us about them!!
I've never tried JW Blue or Gold or the Glenmorangie Port Wood, What are they like?
Glenmorangie 10 is wonderful stuff...
I'm a big fan of the Glenlivet 12 too!!!!
Never heard of Longmoran 15.
What's the Bowmore Darkest Islay like?
A bottle of bargain basement Lauder's blended scotch
Red
Black
Green
Gold
Blue
(depending on what's avail)
and man can you really taste the difference quality makes. Invariably each successive tasting the person goes wow that is better. Then I put the Gold and Blue away and let them pick from any of the ones they have tasted or they can try some of my other scotch's.
The Bowmore is one of my favourites but as I said when I run out, I always go back to the Glenlivet as my std scotch.
Looking at the price of Blue now, I have to brag that I picked it up on my 10th wedding anniversary on a cruise ship of all places. Not only was the price good but I got 10% off on the first night of the cruise so I paid something like $110 US for it. I went a little crazy that day and grabbed a bottle of Remy XO too.
I think this is the best deal in scotch at the moment. Smooth with a lot of complex flavor.
I suspect it is under-priced because it's rejected by the Americans.
I like it much better than the 18 or the 15, *MUCH* more complex.
Reefaquarium.
As an aside, my favourite distiller (Still Waters) started bottling their single malt whiskey almost a year ago. It is young (at 3 years in the cask), but it is getting very good reviews across the board. $70.00 for 45% abv, and $100.00 for cask strength. I have actually started to acquire a taste for it, and am slowly branching out toward other scotches.