Tastes

The best thing about the Glasgow Blend is the label. I don't mean that dismissively. It's just that I'm a big fan of Compass Box's graphic design. The label here is fantastic. I'd buy a poster of it and frame it. I wish I had as much to say about the actual whisky, though. Much like it's brother - The Artists Blend - this dram is entirely serviceable and comes at a fair price. Good neat, better in a cocktail, it's Laphroaig-y on the nose with medicinal/phenolic notes and unremarkable apple and citrus in arrival and development. I'm probably giving you the impression I don't care for this dram, but that's not it at all. It's really pretty good. It's just that, for me, when I want peat there are better options available in my bar. Where I think the Artists blend shines, though, is mixed drinks. When you need a bit of smoke to punch up a cocktail, I'd reach for this. The Blood & Sand, for example, is a great way to use the Artists Blend.

Is dessert whisky a thing? If so, Hedonism should sit squarely atop that category. I have the "B" cask variety - coconut, vanilla, brown sugar, dark chocolate, hints of something vegetal, maybe hay or heather, and the barest hint of campfire. It's remarkably smooth and creamy with a lingering coconut finish. I can easily imagine ending a rich meal with a glass of Hedonism. That's the positive. The negative is the cost. At $100/750 you aren't going to break the bank picking it up, but its similarity to some nicer bourbons at twice the cost give pause.

Saltwater brine, light smoke, raisin and apple are the dominant notes here. A lovely, oily mouth feel and a somewhat dry, lingering finish. I'll have this bottle in my bar for as long as they keep making it. Fair price for the age and quality, too. If I could say anything negative about Springbank 10, or just Springbank in general, it's their graphic design. I find the label design uninspiring and uninviting. It's doesn't have that traditional, classy, old-timey feel of a Lagavulin, or the nouveau sensibilities of Bruichladdie. Nothing about it speaks to the delicious golden perfection waiting for you in the bottle - and what a shame this is. We browse the aisles of our local shops with our eyes moreso than our heads.

A potent alcohol nip on the arrival betrays it's age. I've gone back and forth on this dram before settling on it being a good "daily driver" when you want to save your more spendy scotch for special occasions. Neat or in a cocktail, the Artists Blend is entirely serviceable. A good value for the price, too, at $40/750ml. Flavors tend toward apple, oak or maybe vanilla, and grapefruit for me. Also, the label is fantastic, as is all of Compass Box's graphic design. Not relavant to it's quality as a whisky, of course, but the presentation in the bottle is really rather nice.

Brine, citrus and cereal are the predominant notes here for me. This is a "bright" whisky, best suited for nice weather. It's also extremely approachable and a good introduction for those new to scotch. Classic Laddie will be a staple of my bar for years to come.

This is a steal at $30 a bottle and I hope it stays that way. A bit too rough for me to appreciate straight, Rittenhouse Rye makes the definitive Manhattan. I honestly can't understand why this doesn't cost more.

Fantastic all-arounder. Smooth, creamy and approachable. There's no time needed getting to know the Highland Park 18. It's an old favorite on your first sip. For me it's a gold-standard reference point to examine other whisky. Exceptional in every way.

I don't know what I can say about this that hasn't been said better by scores of reviewers before me. I'll leave this note for other's new to Scotch, or at least, unsure about peated whisky - give the Lagavulin 16 a try. My first experience with peat was the Talisker 10 and I was not a fan. Where others were waxing poetic about the sea, all I tasted was band-aids and camphor. I had this reinforced by encounters with Laphroaig's younger offerings and again most recently with an Ardbeg. I was convinced peat = phenolic overload. Lagavulin 16 really changed my opinon of what peat could do. The smoke here is dominated by mellower, less phenolic flavors. Instead of iodine and "medicinal"/band-aid flavors, there are mouth-watering smoked meats, BBQ, and campfire notes that make me want to laugh out loud over how delicious it is. I didn't "get" peat until Lagavulin 16. This is one of those "if you could only have one bottle" whisky's for me. This is the bottle I'll have in my hand, standing atop the old lighthouse, my gaze outward, across the sea, waiting for the return of the Great Old Ones.

My initial impression of this wasn't very positive. It certainly wasn't bad, but I wasn't getting the "Christmas cake" notes I've seen attributed to it in most reviews. There was something off about it that wasn't sitting right with me. After working through a third of the bottle that started to change. The strange, vaguely off-putting note I encountered right away has receded, replaced by appetizing shortbread, cereal and all-spice or cinnamon notes. The unidentifiable note was still there, but at a comfortable distance. A whisky friend described it as "carob". Certainly possible. The dram is improving as I work through the bottle, fast becoming a favorite. This is my first Glenfarclas, so I'm not sure if the "carob" notes I found unpalatable right after opening are typical or not. Given the high cost of importing this to the US, I'm not sure I'd buy it again until I've sampled some of the standard bottlings available locally - the 12, 17 or 25 perhaps.