Tastes

At a bar tonight, wow it’s a nice nose with apples, cinnamon, lemongrass, peat, but no smoke. Needs few drops of water to open up, but at 50%, no issues with that. Nice briny and salty swish. The barley is definitely present, but the finish is a little short. I am torn between the 3 and 4 stars. The decent price has boosted my review to 4 stars.

The tide is high, but I'm holdin' on... Man, LeeEvolved was right with the surprising sweet notes on this cask strength (lovely) quarter cask. I have to say though, I am in love with this glencairn. Tropical fruits and a huge ton of mint! Just use a couple drops of water on this guy. Respect that strength! That lovely briny smokiness that brings a vision of a campfire on a beach. The palate, to me, is that extremely familiar quarter cask flavor I just can't get enough of from Laphroaig. The finish is a medium to long scorched earthy ash mixed with some lingering oranges and dried apricots. I appreciate the oakiness, and thankfully, it's not overwhelming here. This kind of dram is right up my alley! It's a 4.5!

It’s not even Halloween yet, and this dram has me thinking about Thanksgiving... sort of. The nose is full of jasmine, cinnamon, light fresh fruit, especially oranges. Palate - Sweet pulled pork, Pinot Grigio, maple syrup, marmalade, and toffee. This is not as peppery as the 18 or 10. A light and subtle finish, but slightly better than just satisfactory. I definitely admire the Talisker distillery.

It’s amazing what three years can do to a whisky. The 18 is light years away from the 12, but the 15 is also substantially better as well. The nose has a little peat, sweet caramel, nice floral notes, pineapple...very nice. At first, I went in neat at 43%, but a few drops of water helped out. On the palate, there are golden raisins, light brown sugar, cinnamon, and some nice peat in there as well. An intense sweet and sour (balanced) finish follows with a hint of smoke. Wow! Since Highland Park is discontinuing this soon, what is supposed to take its place? If it’s the Valkyrie, that is not good because the quality is not matched.

Alright alright alright! Neat! The nose is bacon up front for me.. peat smoke, and oaky wood, leather, and thankfully the citrus is distant.. caramel apples!! Let's go down the rabbit hole for the palate... Nice and smooth - no water needed (but this my third dram shhh!) .. Great campfire flavor with that Laphroaig brine we know and love. Dark deep apple with subtle pie crust on the backend. The finish is long and nice with ash, baked crust, cinnamon, and more bacon... This is like an intense Lagavulin 16, if it was cask strength.. wow... This one needs a re-release...STAT!

Usually, I think the Ardbeg distillery nails everything. There is an exception with their 10 year old. The Machir Bay from Kilchoman is what their 10 should be. Ditch that lime! Nose, lemongrass with a touch of earthy peat. This is comparable to the Lagavulin 8. Nice vegetative whiffs of that Islay coast of brine that I long to visit someday. Palate has that Laphroaig-ish quality of a nice balance of salt, smoke, pepper.. but add in some faint tobacco and sherry. The 46% ABV is decent, and I can see this comparing side by side with the Quarter Cask as well, but their 48% ABV slightly beats it for balance. Thanks Dreaming of Islay for the sample!

Thanks to Dreaming of Islay for the sample. Hmmm! This is different than anything else I've ever tried. Nose has pleasant light fruit elements (apple/pear) with a floral hue, but balanced. The peat comes in from the side. On the palate, wow, this is also balanced, most likely due to the fact that they did this justice getting this to 46% ABV. I typically wouldn't like floral notes to a whisky, but the slight smokiness of this with its masterful orchestra of the salty brine seems to give you a nice experience. I've never tried their "works in progress" offerings, but this would not make me scared to do so. Water on this will probably kill the smoke, unless you want a fruitier taste. The sherried casks might not be up front here, but I do think that they play an important support role. My God, the buttery finish is neverending, I adore it! Glengyle being a sister distillery to the outstanding Springbank does not surprise me, but can someone please tell me why this one was discontinued? I hope it's just going to be replaced? The theme to this dram should be "This Modern Love" by Bloc Party, and thanks to @SolanaRoots for the track recommendation!

After hearing a bunch of nice things about the 3 Wood specifically, I thought I better take a look. The nose has a huge whiff of chocolate molasses and spice .. like cinnamon.. coffee cake and fresh cut cigars. The palate is dark brown sugar, caramel mixed with a toffee, and rich caramel corn. If you like sweet drams, you are going to love it. I enjoyed it, but I definitely have to be in the mood for something this sweet and rich. This is the one you need when you crave Crunch N Munch. 3.5 stars, but the long finish makes me want to push it to a 3.7.

Hmm, the nose is very light, but pleasant. Faint peat and smoke met with some floral heather and orange. Sweet hints of cake batter. Palate - neat since it's 46.3...wow, more smoke on it than the nose. Very creamy, almost dreamsicle like. Medium mouth coat of oil on the finish. It has an extremely faint ashtray finish, but it's dry and not enough. Something is missing though, so adding a droplet of water. Brought out more citrus orange on the nose. Great taste still, but the finish, I am just not getting as much as I want.

"Holy Cooooow!!!" as the late great Harry Carey used to say. Ok, this is a fun dram, if you don't mind to do some work. This is the 56.3 ABV version. When I poured it neat, I immediately got a ton of raisins on the nose without being near the glencairn. On a deeper nose, there are ginger snaps in there, with candied apples. On the palate, this is a HOT dram, even more so than the A'bundah, and having lower ABV. Without a mere teaspoon of water, I was getting a lemony taste, and on the finish. My ABV sweet spot is 48, so the water really helped me here. Slight peat with a ton of nice sherry. More light fruits and spice with a ton a of pepper. Comparable to a good Talisker. The finish is medium length with a touch of lemon, not off putting because it's met with graham crackers and spice, with a return of more grapes/raisins. I might enjoy the 10 just slightly more because the absence of citrus. Both are extremely good and worth your time.