Oh my...that's one of them! I may tap some help in Scotland to try and source...

That color!!!

Will try to find the one that was "Enhanced" in Port Wood too. Hope we can find that stuff again.

Thanks for the notes- loved the fruit too, was huge but never "too much" of anything (but good).

I've been hearing positive things about the Japanese Malts but I'd feel like I'm cheating on my wife.

I tried the Yamazaki 12 a few months ago, and it was delicious. Don't recall anything about it right now, but if I get the chance to try it again, I intend to capitalize on it.

I really like the Hibiki 12yr that I bought this week.

More new favorites:

Highland Park 18yr - just brilliant

Aberlour 16yr

Has anyone tried the official bottling of Mortlach 16? Looks like this.

 

The price is very reasonable and I'd like to try an official version before looking into the IB offerings. Binny's in particular has had a number of Signatory Mortlach's that I was interested in but didn't want to pull the trigger on without more experience. I wanna see what that "meaty, jammy" flavor is all about.

 

If I order that Flora and Fauna, I'm considering tacking on a shitload of Glenfarclas mini's. I can get 5cl samples of 10, 12, 15, 21, 25, 40, and 105 for a total of about $100 usd and have one hell of a good horizontal tasting to pinpoint my favorite in their lineup. Hopefully it's not the 40 because I'm pretty sure I'm not baller enough to import bottles > $300. 

105yr?!

Bryan,

If you're still looking for sherry-aged/finished after that, I'd recommend that you look into the Glendronach 15.  I think it slightly edges the A'bunadh for my favorite non IB sherry release.  Although not sherry, the Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask and the 17 Doublewood are both good.  I would recommend that you try before you buy on the last two, however.  If you're ever in Champaign, feel free to stop by and try some of my collection.

 

Frank

Re-posting this from Frank's post in the other thread, so it doesn't get immediately buried.

 

http://scotchgit.bitbucket.org/

The 105 is a high proof sherry whisky from Glenfarclas.  There's a no age version and a 20 year I think.  Come to think of it, I don't know the origin of the 105.  Care to weigh in Mikey?

Thanks Frank, I will be buying a bottle of the 15 yr. revival at some point this year. Same offer to you as well - though I've got drastically more bourbon right now.

 

Jeff/emelius had asked Mikey about the new Bowmore 10 yr. Devil's Cask. I know a place that has several bottles and I think I'm going to buy one if it's around for another 3-4 weeks. It seems to hit the mark in most areas except for price and I'd really like to try an intense blending of peat and sherry.

 

I started a short wish list on Whiskybase to help me organize the various bottles I've asked Mikey about in the past and am targeting right now. 

 

Edit - Glenfarclas 105 comes in 3 versions as far as I can tell. Regular (no age statement), 20 year, and 40 year (which was a one-time deal and is absurdly expensive because they had to cherry-pick 2 or 3 casks that were still a high enough proof to blend to 60%).

Edited January 28, 201412 yr by Aura

Heh. Interesting. I would like to give that one a spin too.

I've been hunting for a bottle of Hakushu. Supposedly it's a slightly peaty Japanese whisky.

Edited January 28, 201412 yr by Emooze

Binny's has Hakushu.  I haven't had it but the 12 year is supposedly decent.

That's what I've heard. The Party Source in KY might have it, I just haven't made it down there yet.

A surprisingly good Japanese blend is Hibiki. John/jvlgato shared with Mike and I back in December and I wouldn't mind adding that bottle to the stash.

Edited January 28, 201412 yr by Aura

I have some Hibiki and it is great, very different than anything else I have had.  

 

Would any of the mod be willing to switch this title to Scotch-Case? 

Balvenie 12yr Double Wood.  Highland-style.  Mellow with a slightly spicy finish.  The Double Wood name comes from the process: part way through they move it from traditional oak casks to first-fill European Oak sherry casks.  

Funny, but I couldn't remember what I have. I just checked, and I actually have The Hakushu. Recommended to me because I told the salesman I liked Macallan , so he recommended this for being slightly peaty and having a slight sherry finish. I like it.

Whoops, thanks for the correction John. Guess I need to still try Hibiki then .

Edited January 29, 201412 yr by Aura

 

I started a short wish list on Whiskybase to help me organize the various bottles I've asked Mikey about in the past and am targeting right now. 

 

 

Thanks for the link, I should make an account. I probably should keep track of them before I forget.  

 

I'm interested in the Hakushu, I saw a bottle of the 12yr here and it was wondering about it.  My first bottle of Japanese whiskey was Hibiki which I love.  My second bottle was Yamazaki 12yr which was good but didn't blow me out of the water. 

 

 

Bryan,

If you're still looking for sherry-aged/finished after that, I'd recommend that you look into the Glendronach 15.  I think it slightly edges the A'bunadh for my favorite non IB sherry release.  Although not sherry, the Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask and the 17 Doublewood are both good.  I would recommend that you try before you buy on the last two, however.  If you're ever in Champaign, feel free to stop by and try some of my collection.

 

Frank

 

I'm having the Glendronach 15 right now and it is very nice.  I like the Aberlour A'bunadh more though. 

 

I haven't been a huge fan of Balvenie so far. I got a sampler pack of the 12/15/21.  The 12 was fine, the 21 was better and the 15 I liked the most of the three but maybe not enough to buy a whole bottle.  It isn't too hard to get samples of the Balvenie stuff and I would probably do that before buying a bottle.  

Edited January 29, 201412 yr by shellylh

What distilleries/bottling would be the goto ones to sample the character of every Scotch region? I guess for Islay the one to sample (my own preference) would be Lagavulin 16, but I don't know for the other regions which ones summarize the distinctive features of each area, if that thing even exists.

Shelly,

Give it a little time, I think you'll like the Glendronach more.  Whisky definitely changes a lot after opening the bottle.

 

Torpedo,

It's really hard to get representative scotches for each region and I don't think there is such a thing.  For Campbelltown, I'd say Springbank.  For lowlands, Auchentoshan.  For Speyside, it's nearly impossible.  Maybe Mikey might have some advice.

I just finished my bottle of Highland Park 18 and enjoyed every drop. Besides buying some more Highland Park 18 -- which I will -- what else should I consider in that sort of vein?

HP is quite an oddball.  It has a little of everything.  If you want to lean a little bit smokier, I'd say go for an old Bunnahabhain, perhaps the 18.  If you want something a little more cleaner, fruitier, I'd say Oban 18.

 

I've never had the Laddie 16 but I'd imagine it would be along the same veins.

Edited January 30, 201412 yr by falkon

I haven't been a huge fan of Balvenie so far. I got a sampler pack of the 12/15/21.  The 12 was fine, the 21 was better and the 15 I liked the most of the three but maybe not enough to buy a whole bottle.  It isn't too hard to get samples of the Balvenie stuff and I would probably do that before buying a bottle.  

 

I bought it on a recommendation, so I suppose I should have searched for the samples first.  Thanks for the tip!  Jury is still out on it.  It's good, I'm just not sure if the sherry finish is what I was expecting.  

 

The Hibiki and Hakushu look interesting.  I'll have to hunt those down.