a10nick

My daughter lives in Oswego, NY (on Lake Ontario). Her friend introduced her to Lagavulin Scotch Whiskey. I have only purchased one bottle of this scotch and I did so when my daughter and her friend we5re coming in for the holidays. (It is well out of my normal price range for adult beverages.)

It is the most different-tasting experience in whiskey that I have ever had. It is extremely "smokey" in the best of ways, yet it still delivers a rich Scotch flavor so important to folks who have acquired a taste for this variety of whiskey.

Be Scotch as it may, I love Bush Black Irish and would love some day to try the 10-year Green label and 2-3 longer-aged black labeled Bushmills.

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I just want the team I support to be in a stronger conference. I'd prefer it to be a stronger A-10! To me that would mean every member would have at least 2 trips to the NCAA Tourney and 5 winning seasons during each 10-year cycle. It would also be great for every program to seriously challenge for a league title (either regular season or Tourney) at least once during that same period of time.

Bona84

Hey Nick, did your daughter go to school in Oswego? There is a SUNY College there. I've never been on that campus, but it sits right on the lake, and I understand that they put ropes up during the winter months so that the students can withstand the winds when walking across campus.

Lagavulin is good stuff, and the way you describe it is right on. Not sure how to describe this, but I found it to have a better balance then a some of the other "smokey" island malts I've recently tried, like Laphroaig and Talisker. When my wife smells one of the smokey whiskies, she says "ew, that Talisker smell!"

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Bona84

res

I don't disagree about Talisker, but back when I used to smoke the occasional cigar, I found it to be the perfect accompaniment.

rosceaux

Very funny. I was finishing off a glass of Lagavulin 16 as I started to read through the last few pages of this thread. Best glass I've ever had was a Lagavulin 12 Reserve exactly one year ago today. My best friend had just come out of a coma and his two brothers and I decided to tour Scotland in a bar two blocks from the hospital.

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Smell the Love

bprichard

I'm delighted to stumble upon a Scotch conversation here. I love ridiculously smoky and peaty whiskies, especially Laphroaig and Ardbeg. If you can find it in the US, you should try Hakushu. It's more balanced. Yoichi is another great Japanese whisky. As for Irish whiskey, Jameson is my everyday whiskey, but Redbreast is phenomenal.

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Bona84

Rosceaux, you toured Scotland in a bar?

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Bona84

WH

When it comes to smokey, I think Ardbeg is the clear winner. Master distiller for Ardbeg (and Glenmorangie), Bill Lumsden, is a creative guy who does some unusual things.

I highly recommend special edition Ardbegs such as the Uigeadail (Jim Murray's Whiskey of the year in 2009), Corryvreckan (my favorite), Supernova or Alligator. Another special edition that is disappearing, but still great, is Airigh Nam Beist. All of these range from $50 to $90 a bottle in DC, but I usually get them on sale for around $60 average.


I cannot pronounce the names of any of these Arbegs but they are all fantastic. Powerful stuff, too. Smokey and spicy like a lot of Islays, but with a balancing sweetness from a more discerning use of specific wood casks. I find other peaty scotches lack that balancing sweetness and are often too dry. Ardbeg is a leader in wood science and it does stuff no one else in the trade is doing.

The Arbeg special editions are also high proof and should be cut a little bit, making them go further than a lower proof whiskey. These scotches are not age labeled and consist of blend of very old, mid-age and young whiskeys.

Again, very creative. The other Islay distillers see Ardbeg's success and are trying to mimic - one example was Laphroiaig's quartercask. Yet it was dryer and didn't quite have the balancing sweetness, though I found it more enjoyable than most scotches from that distiller.

Over the years I have gravitated toward scotches that use sherry or even port casks for aging instead of bourbon (the vast majority of scotches are aged in casks previously used to store American bourbon). They impart a subtle sweetness and richness that's different from the bourbon casks, even though they are all made of oak.

Some distillers use a combination of casks, such as McCallan and now Laphroaig (again, the Ardbeg influence). The triple cask from either distiller uses bourbon, sherry and port, or they a combination of bourbon and sherry casks from both Spain and the U.S.

res

Much as with the academic ratings of colleges, the relative qualities of various malt whiskies are hard to measure.

Bona84

Res! Post number one thousand.

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Bona84

res

Damn, I'm no longer a "Player".

Turtle

Wow, WH, the A-10 connoisseur and a whiskey expert. What more can one wish to be?

As for my personal favorite whiskey I will have to go with Canadian Leaf. It leaves a burning sensation in your throat that will make you gag if your not careful.How many times have you dropped a bottle of alcohol and it shatters all over the floor? Don't have to worry about that when Canadian leaf rocks a plastic bottle. It is only twenty bucks for a handle and it will get you pumped for any basketball game guaranteed. But that's not the best part, it makes you 100x better with the ladies. It really brings my "turtle out of its shell" if you know what I mean...

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Go Bonnies!

res

JHG722

Turtle rocks.

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Temple Owls football and basketball

BU Terriers hockey

Bona84

Ardbeg 10 tonight, as I watch the Professor and the Magic on NBA League Pass. Nice.

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Bona84

bprichard

I got six free glasses of Macallan last night, since the police decided to come to the bar and remove all of the foreigners and make us take drug tests. Mayhaps it's about time for me to get out of China.