Tastes

Ah Oogie. My first "favorite" whisky. It's still great. I've had enough bottles at this point to notice the narrative of "older releases were better." Couple that with how the price has gone up, it's not the permashelf buy it used to be. Always on shelves, always glad to see it.

N: Fruit compote, very sweet, burning camp fire, ash, brighter fruits on the back T: Peat, obviously. Intense fruit from the sherry barrels, farmy peat very typical of Kilchoman F: Medium to long, spice lingers. Sherry dominant. Love this dram from Kilchoman. Exactly what a heavily sherried Islay peated malt should be.

12 year single barrel store pick from a PX puncheon. Big time cask influence from the king of casking, Billy Walker. N: Massive fruit bomb. Sulphur. Spicy. Literally no spirit intake at all, but that's par for the course for the amount of cask influence Glenallachie goes for. T: Alcohol bursts through. Warm up front. Very spicy. Stewed fruits. More sulphur. Classic sherry forward Speyside. F: Long. Very long. 12 years gives in a roundness. So. Freaking. Good.

Value is the only thing holding this back. As with many of these committee releases, it's overpriced and underwhelming. If this were 30% cheaper I'd be all over it. N: Vanilla, cream, buttered biscuits, true to form ex bourbon Islay. Can't say the heavier char is coming through, but there is a spicier note that might indicate that. T: Medium mouthfeel. Wish it was longer. Smoke turns to spicy barrel char so it's coming through there. F: Sticks around, but not as much. Spicy. Smoke, ex bourbon clearly, which is great. This is a tasty release from Ardbeg. Wish it didn't cost what it did for the proof point.

The first single malt i ever tried. Still a bottle I will always reach for. A dram I will never grow tired of. N: That classic black pepper note that is so unique to Talisker. Ripe melon and honey. Barley grain with a slight funk to it. P: More black pepper. Like an oatmeal bowl with fresh fruit. Peat is there, but I've never felt it overpowered Talisker in anyway. F: Medium, peat sticks around longer on the finish. A true classic. There are plenty of island distilleries doing things with more "integrity" than Diageo owned Talisker, but i still find this is a singular dram.