Scotch - Page 42

Recently had the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban. Maybe I was expecting more by the price but it seemed to be lacking in character (for my tastes). Very drinkable though. Maybe I need to get an Ardbeg 10 to keep around for comparisons (mmm smoke).

It's been quite a day. Wee Dram Fest - Bakewell, England. £16. 5 Hours. 110 different whiskies - mostly single malts (no I didn't try them all and there was some spitting involved as well as drinking otherwise I'd be utterly hammered and everything would have tasted brilliant after the first few...). Free tasting glass to take home. Quality really.

I've had English Whisky (St George #9 & #6), Welsh Whisky (Penderhyn), Indian Whisky (Amrut Fusion) Irish Whiskey (Connemarra) and lots of Scottish Whisky.

Standouts from the day - the ones that made me go "Wow" were Adbeg Uigeadail, Ardbeg Corryvreckan, Port Ellen 27 yo (I wish I had £145 quid spare - when it's gone it's gone as the destillery's been demolished) and Penderyn Madeira Cask.

Plenty of other nice ones about. Bought a set of Penderyn miniatures and a full sized bottle of Uigeadail. 

Anyway - now drinking some of my Laphroaig Quarter Cask at home. Not quite up to the standard of some of the stuff I had earlier but still very nice

Very impressive list you got there!

Have tried a few of them, and I agree with your impressions of them all.

Sad to see you don't have my personal favorite: Dalwhinnie 15.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Permagrin 

Recently had the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban. Maybe I was expecting more by the price but it seemed to be lacking in character (for my tastes). Very drinkable though. Maybe I need to get an Ardbeg 10 to keep around for comparisons (mmm smoke).

 

 

I bought the Quinta Ruban, thinking it was the same thing as its delicious predecessor - the 10 year-old Glenmorangie finished in burgundy casks.  It was only after I was disappointed upon tasting it that I looked closer at the bottle and realized it lacked the age statement.  It seems to be a common gimmick - the same thing happened with the Laphroaig Quarter Cask.  My old bottle says it's ten years old, and my friend's new bottle, which doesn't taste as good, has no age statement.  As a general rule, I now don't buy any single malt unless the bottle says it's ten years (peated) or twelve years (unpeated) and older.

Quote:

Originally Posted by acidbasement 

I bought the Quinta Ruban, thinking it was the same thing as its delicious predecessor - the 10 year-old Glenmorangie finished in burgundy casks.  It was only after I was disappointed upon tasting it that I looked closer at the bottle and realized it lacked the age statement.  It seems to be a common gimmick - the same thing happened with the Laphroaig Quarter Cask.  My old bottle says it's ten years old, and my friend's new bottle, which doesn't taste as good, has no age statement.  As a general rule, I now don't buy any single malt unless the bottle says it's ten years (peated) or twelve years (unpeated) and older.

You're sure you're not getting 10yo Cask Strength mixed up with Quarter Cask?  I'd never heard of Quarter Cask 10yo and I've been following Islay releases fairly closely for the last few years.

There are some fantastic NAS peated whiskies.  Ardbeg Uigeadail and Corryvreckan spring to mind.  Both are premium products compared to the Ardbeg 10yo.  Ardbeg Supernova and Bruichladdich Octomore spring to mind too, but I've not tried them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ear8dmg 

You're sure you're not getting 10yo Cask Strength mixed up with Quarter Cask?  I'd never heard of Quarter Cask 10yo and I've been following Islay releases fairly closely for the last few years.

 

There are some fantastic NAS peated whiskies.  Ardbeg Uigeadail and Corryvreckan spring to mind.  Both are premium products compared to the Ardbeg 10yo.  Ardbeg Supernova and Bruichladdich Octomore spring to mind too, but I've not tried them.

 

I haven't tried the 10yo Cask Strength yet - it's not available in Canada unfortunately.  However, you are correct that I made a mistake.  I could have sworn the box said 10 years when I bought it in 2007 or 2008 (can't recall which), but looking back at some archived reviews I see that my memory is faulty.  Forgive me; while you've been following the Islay malts I've had little time to follow more than my two toddlers.    Anyway, I still maintain that my friends' newer bottle of QC tastes a wee bit too young for my tastes, while I did not notice that in my older bottle.

And, I'm sure you are correct that there are some good NAS whiskies, but as a general rule I'm less likely to buy a NAS bottle until I've tried it than I would a bottle displaying an age statement.  I'd love to attend a whisky tasting and be proven wrong someday.

I only have the one toddler so still have a little free time left.  Considerably less time spent paying attention to things like whisky and headphones since he was born though .

I have a recent bottle of quarter cask and it's very nice but I wouln't call it spectacular, which is what some early reviews seemed to suggest.  Whisky is always subject to some natural variation and quality of casks and bottlings varies, even with established favourites from the top distilleries.  Then there's always good old personal preference and variations in the taster's mood etc that I'm sure can influence things.

You only really see things first hand when you try different bottlings.  Lagavulin 16yo is a personal  favourite and of the few whiskies that I've ever bought more than once, plus can get in a bar.  I would say the first time I tried it, it had a peatier, slightly more sherried flavour.  2-3 years ago it changed a bit and not for the better.  Unfortunately the only full size bottle I owned wasn't up to quite the same high standard.  I got a couple of 20cl bottles last year and tried some at a tasting and they were all more like the 16yo lagavulin I first tried.