Tastes

Dramfest `18....Day 2....I was getting towards the bitter end....my notes starting going from mildly illegible to finally non-existant at 40 or so drams in near the 5 hours mark :-). So memory...I thought it was ok, nothing special...beyond that I'll leave it up to Cam and JoeC to provide more detailed notes :-). I have samples of the 22 and 24 which I'll have to crack open sometime.

Dramfest `18. Towards of end of day 2 and near the 80 mark from memory so it didn't really have much of a chance. Came across as pretty standard. Solid 3....will have to crack open a bottle of the 21 I have some time :-)

Dramfest `18. Wow this one blew me away. I have had a lot of average port finishes and this isn't one of them. I think I might prefer this to the 1977 Benriach which was twice the price of this. Stunning spice and port and perfectly balanced. At least a 4.5. Was in my top couple of drams out of the nearly 100 I tried over 5 days. I have another sample so it will be interesting to see if it holds up rating wise. Update 1 year later: Right take 2 on the sampling. Is it as good? Almost, definitely better than the 16 year Triple Cask. Probably not a 4.5 but definitely 4.25.

Dramfest `18. This was my 3rd favourite after the Portwood and Carribean. To borrow sentance from Joe_ C "vivacity was simply lacking". My notes still say a 4 so maybe I was in a charitable mood having come off a high of the Carribean 14 or just the fact it was my 60th or so whiskey of the week...either way 4 it shall remain but I wouldn't buy a bottle. I have another sample at home to try out so will be interesting to see if my opinion changes.

Dramfest `18. I have a slight soft spot for this whiskey as it was amoungst the first samples I got from MOM when I was just getting into whiskey a few years ago. It stood out then to me as I loved the spice. Nowadays it doesn't cut it for me as much and 3.5 is the most. As SolanaRoots noted great entry level classic. I'd start someone off on this and Glenmorangie 10 if they were just getting into Whiskey.

Dramfest `18. I was prepared to dislike this one based on recent reviews plus I'm starting to divide Ardbeg into two categories, lemony e.g. 10, An Oa (disllike) vs non lemony e.g. Dark Cove, Kelpie, Uggie (like). Primarily I think sherry casking makes the difference. This one not having any of that made me deeply suspicious but hey it's free how bad can it be. Very, very good as it turns out. Lemon was in the back ground and salty peat blasted through...not sure if I even added water. Reading the distiller blurb I see French oak influence which I love which probably explains my like of this one. 4.25

Dramfest `18. Day 2. Had the unfortunate distinction of coming after the Balvanie Portwood 21 which was amazing but still this one redeemed itself well. Interesting dram (for a Glenmorangie), rye, honey and clove and not to oversweet. I don't know if I'd buy a bottle but I'd say 2nd favourite Glenmorangie so far. 4

Dramfest `18, Day two. Dram no. 2. Lovely viscous vanilla and honey, almost irish pot still like. I think the 18 year at $90USD is one of the best VFM drams out there. The 25 at $420 USD a bottle not so much.

Dramfest `18. Dram no. 3 day two. Waxy, vanilla, mild, very small hint of smoke. 3.75. Not worth the nearly $400USD a bottle.

Dramfest `18. 1st Dram day two. Not bad for a blend 3.5 but on VFM at nearly $190 a bottle that's a 3. However having now read the Distiller blurb I now realise I tried 5 of the remaining 20 scottish distilleries I had yet to try in one dram! Sadly I'm only counting it if it's a single malt so still at 20.