Tastes

Woho after a rollercoaster ride of up and downs this takes me all the way back up to 4.25 to 4.5 territory. Now a bottle with a bit of oxygen and time may give things a boost but it's rare (unless your palate is very fatigued) that in my experience that you can't immediately tell the good to very good from the great to excellent. This the Ardbeg Galileo and Red Spot hit you instantly with the impression they were a higher tier up straight out of the sample bottle without time or water (although you could argue they are from an opened bottle and so have had a good chance to air.. however so did the rest I tried from LeeEvolved). Anyhow this is a great one. Light sweet smoke, calvados apple honey and more in this one. Very well blended, balanced and decent hit of complexity (but not astounding). Thanks once again @LeeEvolved

Wow now this is interesting, very very interesting. I don't believe i've ever had an Amontillado before. I call this one the chameleon. Each time I dive into it it brings a completely new thought into my head. First it was like hazelnut liqueur, then drambuie like orange, bam nutmeg, then fennel. Crazy the twists and turns on this one. I did a bit of research and Amontillado is..an expression of sherry, which lies between the pale, dry fino and the well-regarded oloroso. This is an 8 year old Laphroaig from bourbon casks that then finds its way into amontillado hogsheads for one additional year apparently. I also read cedar wood tick, menthol tick, peppermint, spearmint etc. Each time you think of a flavour it spawns thoughts of more. Now the big problem is that I really am not a fan of any of those flavors and in fact I really don't like any of them so this whiskey is in essence really a homage to all the flavour profiles I detest. Weirdly however I don't dislike the whiskey. Now don't get me wrong I couldn't and wouldn't drink any more of this but I do have to admire the quality and balance of this dram and I can see if you are a fan of these flavors how it could be rated so highly. Thanks once again @LeeEvolved for such a fascinating tasting experience!

Similar to the Laga 11 this isn't really a style for me I believe. More astringent lighter peated flavor. It is to the Laphroaig CS 10 what the Laga 11 is to the Laga 16. The former drams more tighter, astringent, slightly acidic peat versus the richer profiles of the latter which I preferred. Thanks for the chance to try Lee!

Steadily working my way through the pile @LeeEvolved sent over. The last Lagavullin dram I had was a month or so ago now. 9 yr Game of Thrones - House Bannister. I think I preferred that one. It was richer in the style of the 16 with more oomph. This profile is a sharper more acidic peat which I'm not a huge fan of. I had another side taste of the Ardbeg Galileo and my preference also lies there. Decent drop but not one for me.

Well it's hard when you come up against the calibre of drams which preceded over the last two nights. Red Spot, Knob Creek SC and Ardbeg Galileo. All were very well integrated, finely balanced drams. This not so much. Now the Knob Creek was 63.5% or something and amazing integration of alcohol and flavour. This much weaker on the flavour and the alcohol just overpowers it, with water watering down the flavour more than the abv. It's still a nice enough flavorsome drop but 3.5 is high as it goes for me. Thanks @LeeEvolved!

Ah man yet another great sample from VA.... thank you @LeeEvolved once again. Such a rich, oily balanced Ardbeg. A lot of the std stuff I have found has gone down hill these days Uggie etc just isn't the same and tasting older samples such as this prove it to me at least. In fact i'm an outlier in that I'm not a fan anymore or any of the std releases, 10, An Oa, Uggie etc. I much prefer the older bottlings, the pre 10, this, as well as the newer special releases the 19, Dark Cove, Kelpie (some are better than others). Only 3 drams in of my 12 dram set from LeeE... looking fwd to the rest!

I have no idea what scottr is on or why he's rated twice but i'm with the other reviewers if it's the same batch i'm tasting 21b-20 this is fantastic stuff. Man from the low to the high but still reasonably priced end Knob Creek make great stuff. It has that bourony profile I'm not a huge fan these days but it executes so well I can't give it any less than a 4.25 it'd be a 4.5 or higher if I enjoyed the type of flavor profile. Straight pour and drink it went down so so smoothly without a drop of water. This thing is so bulletproof adding a liberal helping of water seemed to make zero difference to either the flavor and amazingly how strong it tasted. It tasted just the same without it. Thanks once again to @LeeEvolved

Damn this is good. I'd buy a bottle in a heartbeat. It's a definite 4.25 to 4.5 for me. Yeah it's sweet dessert like but pulls back from cloying sweetness. It marries all the components very very well. Definitely prefer over the green. The yellow in the old days is a tough call. Probably give it the edge over that too. Slight bitter edge detracts somewhat and I could see on an off day maybe I'll pull it down to 4.25 but 4.5 on the night tonight...has lived up to expectations. Big thanks to @LeeEvolved for shipping a giant sample 15000kms to NZ.

Last on the night in terms of order and 5th over all. Another great VFM young dram.

No 6 on the order and 4th over all. I rated on par with whiskies twice its age. $120USD a bottle.