Tastes

One of my regretful buys -I’ll take the SB barrel proof ANY DAY over this. It’s light and unfocused, it tastes like they rolled the dice on a vatting gone wrong.

My philosophy: “the top selling companies must be doing something right”; on that notion I went out to grab glenfiddich 18. I hit 6 different locations on my rainy day search in Michigan- no dice - the deck was rapidly stacking up against Glenfiddich as i frustratingly hit liquor store after liquor store trying to find what I imagined would be readily available- I finally found it. During my purchase I felt impatient as the store owner politely yet thoroughly bent my ear about HIS whiskey tastes and -, all the while I was thinking to my self “this could be another disappoint, I mean HELL! this is fan fair whiskey for god sakes” and “Am I not considering what $100 could do if I put into my IRa? But, this whisky could be great TODAY?!” - all in all I was emotionally preparing for disappointment. I got back to my room - I smelled my armpit, raised my eyebrows and deduced that I needed a shower and wondered if my body sweat would affect my tasting? ... probably not, get real Joel. After this long day I quickly and CARELESSLY ripped off the aluminum topper and poured one finger into a plastic cup; I thought: this had better be good. Sniff, sip.... Wow! Yep, heck yeah - smooth, smokeless, round mouth feel, pears, chocolate, caramel, medium length finish, and an 18 year funkless taste. I’m quite happy I rolled the dice on this one- it’s very tasty and worth the hundred clams. I really can’t imagine anyone with even a marginally developed whisky palate being disappointed with this whiskey, it’s very nice. I hope all of you readers out there are having a nice day with your families, and if you’re looking for a nice whiskey without having to spend an arm and a leg - buy a bottle of Glenfiddich 18, it won’t disappoint. 👍🏼

As I read it seems that many lesser experienced whiskey reviewers on distiller.com are hammering the rating down on this- it’s unfortunate because this one always puts a smile on my face. I’ll just say this: if you like bourbon, unpeated scotch, sherry and spicy finishes- this one knocks it out of the park.🤘🏼 enjoy!

Drank this and melted into my couch. It’s like macallan 12 without the organic funk, and lower spice- They each stand of their own. This is closer to a watered down macallan 18.

For the price, you won’t find too many better whiskeys 👍🏼👍🏼 it has a great taste and; I know this is a lame “hot button” word: this is what I would consider a “session” scotch that you could potentially drink daily without getting sensory overload that could turn you off.

Super smooth and fantastic. I really like this and I’ll try to drink it more often- - - it’s not stuffy and stale like some of the other JW labels.

Good, but over priced and over hyped. IMO Platinum and green are much better offerings at a fraction of the price... however ..... one the contrary; the world NEEDS Johnny walker blue label ... because, ...well it’s an effective way to show people you spend lots of money on frivolous things. What a great gift to give?! The average joe doesn’t know the price of compass box hedonism or George T Stagg, however most people know what you paid for the infamously expensive and easily attainable JW Blue...Lots! 👌🏼

This whiskey has a pretty fancy presentation and a hefty 25 year age statement - congrats to the kids at the ad agency for Diego in churning out yet another top shelf looking bottle and getting people to buy it at top shelf prices ($160, myself included)- but that’s unfortunately where the magic ended for me Nose- pretty weak and hard to nail down- it’s hard to nail down because it’s uninteresting. Palate- mouth entry is smooth, it’s a light mouth feel with a small amount of spice. The tasting notes are pretty basic- it reminds me a little of a watered down blade and bow. Finish- smooth, tastes light - light like it’s been forgotten in a barrel a few years too many- IMO only malted barley (Scotch) holds up over 23 years in the barrel - rye and corn based spirits start to fall apart in a bad way after that time. If you want a blended whiskey that performs with smoothness and taste at a FRACTION of the cost - go with POWERS, that stuff is an amazing value. Don’t tell anyone; like I’m doing ... right... now. We all know how whiskey companies are pining over any opportunity to execute price hikes these days. Enjoy!

This stuff is very good, nice mouth feel, glenlivet reliable taste, cask strength flavor, great spice, low price- my only complaint is the nose- it was a little flat in comparison to the palate. I sampled this in a “flight” with a few different high end bourbons and scotches, and even my non whiskey obsessed friends were impressed. Good stuff. WAAAY better than and 81... I’d give it a 94

Wow, what a smooth and delicate mouth entry this has for such a gnarly tasting brand. I remember My dad giving me laphroaig years ago (back in my jack n’ coke days) and upon tasting it I immediately looked at him like “are you fucking maaaad?! Being nearly 40 now I have recently learned how to appreciate a heavily peated scotch - the trick for me (if you might want to know) was PATIENCE- and trying a higher end batch; where the taste of a natural earthy smoke truly enhances the flavor - not a light scotch that seems as if it was incidentally flavored with artificial smoke, disjointed and compartmentalized throughout the experience. For me; the entry point for my interests was Corryvreckan. Now back to Lore- wow, what and interesting addition to my collection - the nose was the part that perked my interest first - ... obviously .. it initially has that classic medicinal laphroaig Smokey nose - but then within 5 minutes it started morphing into red berries — it was then that I feared the taste; I feared disappointment.... having been let down by so many $100+ dollar bottles; I reluctantly ... reluctantly lifted my glass for the tasting,.. and then - wow. Upon entry to the mouth It’s one of the smoothest whiskeys I have ever tasted, then it proceeds to developed itself into to many many more flavors as it moves around inside your mouth- it finishes with just enough burn and on the back end to give you your money’s worth. If you like peated scotch - you will definitely like this. ——Now I’ll proceed to run my mouth because I can: Suntory/Beam- don’t fuck this one up- you have plenty of products to slowly diminish for profit by diluting, removing the age statements, but yet still raising the price- please keep the quality and aging just like you did on batch one- you already started stomping on the toes of faithful laphroaig customers by removing the 18yr AND the 15yr ; so what’s next? INCREASE quality? I think not- I’m sure Suntory has some fresh new hot shot execs that are interested in quickly lining their pockets while getting ⭐️⭐️⭐️gold stars on the tally board though “efficiency” by temporarily, if not permanently removing some of the timeless, natural, historical practices and ingredients that subtly enhance the flavor of whiskey- which could then only temporarily increase profit🤑💍⛳️🏦📈 - that is until they quit Suntory and move to the next firm. 🙇‍♂️ MANY Executives that control these companies pay dividends to themselves and shareholders; it requires the drug dealer mentality (just like every other corporation out there who sells liquid) - “cut it with the cheaper stuff to increase profit” - it’s done with quick, quiet conversations, subtle eyebrow raises and gesture among the top guys- they mean no harm; but in time enough personal interests and dividends paid out of old companies is funded usually by product degradation and price hikes- laphroaig has recently been guilty of both of these. Boys at laphroaig: Don’t do it - go harvest your profit by watering down Kessler, Courvoisier, Canadian club, beam rye or one of your other wackamol brands - leave laphroaig alone, and please - bring back the 18yr - you schmucks. Lore is great, but at $130+ it’s almost ethically unacceptable because it has no age statement, or official ongoing batch transparency - it’s slippery slope to buy into. Laphroaig - this is a good whiskey; don’t fuck this one up for a quick buck.