Tastes

Live dispatch from Feis Ile 2018. My wife and I tried this as part of the manager’s masterclass on the first day of Feis Ile, which belongs to Lagavulin. This is a dark scotch, similar in color to the Distillers Edition despite the lack of added color. Chocolate, caramel, and oil on the nose are a fitting preview for a rich, fruit-filled palate. There’s an eerie lack of heat. The finish is delicious, mellowed peat and barbecue smoke. Finally, I have to say, as good as this scotch is, the Feis experience at Lagavulin may be better, and it’s incredibly generous at that. Free drams of Lagavulin 16, 8, and Distillers Edition, free cocktails, free shirts for attendees, live music, and a gorgeous setting on the southern coast of Islay. It’s a thank you to the fans, not just another way to monetize our love for the product. You could literally go to Feis Ile Lagavulin day, not spend a dime, and take it all in. We of course bought various tastings and two Feis bottles, so did not quite make it out for free ;)

Live dispatches from Feis Ile 2018. We tried this dram at Islay House Hotel on the first night — lovely hotel and friendly, spectacular staff. This dram was the first we tried, and enjoyable, but a tiny bit of a letdown in its similarity in flavor and finish to the standard 16. The nose is brinier and more acidic, recalling tart fruits like lemon that I more often associate with Ardbeg. This is a quality dram, but it also costs 3 times the price of the 16, which is the best value in scotch.

Live dispatch from Feis Ile 2018 after a long hiatus for me. It’s been a divine weekend on an island that’s quickly become one of my favorite places in the world. Feis Ile 2018 is a spectacular dram, light in color due to the lack of color added and perhaps a low amount of sherry casks. The nose features a dry, briny aroma with hints of pear and a scent that my wife identified as akin to the base layer of some Le Labo perfumes. Vetiver or some other grassy note. The palate is rich, balanced, and oily: dark fruits, caramel, and a savory note from the well-aged peated Malt. The oily texture is first rate. The finish is a rising tide of smoke and peat, producing a classic coffee and hot chocolate note that is a hallmark of well-aged peated scotches. At nearly $200 a bottle, I expect a ton from this dram, and it delivered.

Huge scam -- it's apple juice from Whole Foods!

In its bottling and labeling, and perhaps in its taste as well, this bourbon feels a little like a time warp from the 1990s. This bourbon reminds me a lot of Hancock's President's Reserve, as one of these early single barrel products that has been surpassed slightly by more recent releases and yet continues chugging along while providing a nice core flavor profile. I find Wild Turkey's to lean to the sweet side of the spectrum, and this one would be a cross between caramel bread pudding and cinnamon french toast. It's better than Wild Turkey 101, and notably richer, but it's also double or triple the price at most liquor stores.

Tried at Miami Whiskey Mash 2018, alongside its 12-year old younger brother. The greatest thing about the 15-year rendition of this single malt is that it's stunningly affordable at around $40, which makes it the least expensive 15-year old scotch on the market. The generically sweet and fruity profile of the 12-year old improves here, and I got a nice, crisp apple flavor that combined well with the slightly drier malt. This one may become my house single malt, as I think it's one that could be enjoyed by the broadest variety of palates.

2018 Miami Whiskey Mash offering. We tried both the 12- and 15-year varieties of the Singleton of Glendullan back to back. It seems like this whiskey is Diageo's attempt to create a new entry-level step for drinkers graduating from blends to single malts. These whiskies are cheap, meted out at the minimum possible ABV, and packaged attractively in elegant, distinctive canteen-shaped bottles. If I had to guess, the target market is early-to-mid-20's, just starting to graduate beyond well drinks -- you know the type. The flavor profile also demonstrates that this scotch is aimed at taking market share from the Glenfiddich/Glenmorangie/Glenlivet trio of omnipresent single malts. Overall, the end result here is pretty impressive given the price point. This is a light, sweet, fruity scotch, but without any of the bitterness or other flaws I occasionally detect in the finish of its competitors.

Another sample dram from Miami Whiskey Mash. This is the first Indian whiskey that I've tried, so check off another box on my spirits journey. When I wandered over to the Paul John table, perhaps I'd had a few too many by that point, because I actually walked over to the wrong side of the display (i.e., the servers' side). In fairness to myself, the tables abruptly flipped orientation when I went around the corner: the tables on one side faced outward, while the tables on the next side of the rectangular formation faced inward for some reason! After looking over the shoulder of someone pouring out drams, and beginning to think this was a self-serve station, it dawned on me that he was the server. Awkward. This peated whiskey reminds me of Port Charlotte or Ballechin more than the smoky Islay powerhouses like Laphroaig. The peat was earthier, with significantly more minerality and loam, and even hints of mushroom.

Oh, my Lord. My wife and I, and some friends, went to Miami Whiskey Mash earlier this month and got to try some drams of this whisky. To be honest, before this event, I was wondering what all the Octomore hype was about. My initial encounter with Octomore was the 07.3, which I did not particularly enjoy, finding its flavor profile so strange that it almost didn't feel like a whiskey to me but more like a barrel-aged gin. That really put me off this series, given its high cost and rarity. Why hunt for something like that? Well, mea culpa, now I have my answer. Octomore 06.3 is a tour de force of a peated whisky, and famously was the peatiest scotch on the market before Bruichladdich outdid themselves recently with several outlandish releases in the 8th series. Experiencing the peat of Octomore 06.3 is like hearing Beethoven's 5th for the first time: wave after wave of pure, unadulterated power. The hair was growing on my chest, my voice was deepening . . . like a 5-minute accelerated puberty redux, minus the acne and the intense awkwardness with girls. Rich Cuban cigar smoke, freshly burnt-out candles, but balanced by -- actually, it's not much balanced out by anything. And I love it. The asphalt or rubber notes that feature in Lagavulin show up here as well, and there's some of that earthier or mossier peat. It's a showcase for just about every flavor an enthusiast can find in a peated whisky. Definitely the winner of the festival, by far, and one of my top three whiskies of all time.

This is the oldest of the Cairdeas series that I've tried so far, enough so that it dates back to my graduation from law school, in the dark ages when the only scotch I drank was Black Label. While the more recent iterations of this annual series have become a paean to different finishing techniques, particularly various sweet wine or dessert wine finishes, this Cairdeas seems very different. It hones in on the core Laphroaig flavors, while also adding a unique twist. The nose's strongest note is, of course, smoke, but there is a lingering air of sweet honey-roasted peanuts, reminiscent of the nut carts that line the broadways of New York. The palate is briny, has a sharp, cutting lemon note, and also features some creamy, nutty flavors. Pine nuts may be what I'm getting here. The finish is warming, smoky, long as any Laphroaig, and has a glimmer of tropical fruits. This is a nice one, worthy of the line as a whole. Am I ever going to find a Cairdeas that I don't love? It's Laphroaig, so probably not.