Tastes

For the price, this is superb. Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. Baking spices with some nice malty and caramel notes. Not terribly complex, but as far as blends go, its very enjoyable. Almost reminiscent of a bourbon or rye. Would be an excellent choice for someone who doesn't like smoky and peaty scotch and doesn't want to go with something that'll break the bank. A solid 'daily drinker'.

An excellent whisky that is very reminiscent of Ardbeg Uigaedail. It has that signature Laphroaig medicinal flavor, along with some mild barrel spice and added richness from the sherry casking. More importantly, it loses that slight bitter note that regular Laphroaig 10 has on the finish, which I am personally not terribly fond of. I'd encourage fans of Laphroaig to pick this up to give it a try at least once, as it is indeed rich and complex. Unfortunately, the price point here really holds this one back. I'm not letting it reflect in my rating, but despite how much I like it, I don't think this is something I can justify buying more than once or twice. To put it simply, $125 for a NAS Whisky, as good as this one is, is just too much. This to me, is roughly on par (or slightly better, hard to say) with Uigeadail. The difference is, this is $50 more than that one. I care a lot about value for money. If this one was cheaper, (70-90 perhaps) I'd definitely always keep a bottle handy. As it stands, its hard to justify the purchase when you can get so many great bottles for less. It's even harder to justify the price point when the now discontinued Laphroaig 18 was cheaper.

An excellent whisky from Bruichladdich. Heavy smoke and peat at the forefront along with a rich and oily mouthfeel. Hints of citrus or tropical fruit can be found that prevent it from being an overwhelming peat bomb. Surprisingly short finish, but some underlying sweetness lingers. Reminds me somewhat of karo syrup? At this price point, it's hard to not recommend this. I've had richer or more complex whiskies, but this one is just damn enjoyable for what it is. I'll likely keep this one stocked alongside my other favorites like Uigaedail. Interested to see how time changes this one, as my tastings so far are only about a week old.

I started out with Batch 12 of Laphroaig 10 cask strength, so this should be an interesting contrast hopefully. Nose: iodine and phenols with a bit of smoke and peat. As many have said, very reminiscent of bandages and hospitals. Taste: Similar to the nose but with an underlying hint of sweetness. Perhaps the most surprising thing here is not only does this follow the nose almost to the letter, it's shockingly smooth with little burn. This is in serious contrast with the cask strength variant, which took immense quantities of water to make drinkable. While the mouth feel is a bit thinner compared to the cask strength variant, the whisky is much easier to drink. I didn't need to add any water to this one. Finish: some smoke, peat, and medicine. This is a whisky that is pretty honest with what it delivers. Overall, I think I prefer this to the cask strength variant I tried. While the other one was certainly more briney (which I like), it was a serious challenge to bring it to heel. I'll consider picking up cask strength again next year, but this variant definitely seems more intentionally balanced. It speaks to the quality here more than anything. While I've had Islays I think are more interesting or complex than this one, I do think for 50 dollars, you're going to be hard pressed to beat this in terms of value for money. The only other alternative at this cost is really Ardbeg 10.

Just finished off my bottle of this, so it's time to review. Nose: Floral, but hard to pick out individual scents (at least to me). Taste: Floral again followed by a bit of candied fruit (particularly orange) on the finish. The whisky overall is well rounded and mellow, without any one particular flavor asserting itself all that strongly. The finish itself is fairly short. I get a bit of alcohol in the nose on this one. My take away from this whisky is it seems like a great 'introductory' whisky. It has a bit of nuance but isn't overwhelmingly complex or smoky. It's a very easy drinker and one I could see myself buying again if the price was right. I paid about 60 dollars for this one at the time, and I think that's the maximum I would be prepared to pay. Unfortunately like all Japanese whisky, the price is inflated beyond what the liquid in the bottle is actually worth. If you can find a bottle for 60 or less, I'd recommend picking it up for an easy/mellow sipper, or as an introductory bottle. At it's current going rate of 80+ though, I'd give it a miss.

Normally I tend to avoid sherried style whiskys. More of an Islay man myself, but I couldn't help and be curious about what a cask strength sherry brings to the table. Nose: Sweet, fruity, sherry. Taste: Thick with huge hits of sherry and barrel spice. Definitely needs a good amount of water to really open this one up. I think a teaspoon or two at a 1.5 oz pour appears to be a sweet spot. Once water is added, there's more to discover here and I start picking out fruit and berry notes from it. I've heard someone say this is sort've like drinking a christmas cake, and that seems like an apt description. Finish leaves a fairly long lingering burn behind. Overall, this seems like a great whisky for people like me who want something different than an Islay from time to time, but need 'aggressive' flavors to be able to really pick them out. I do think 95 is a bit steep, personally I wish this were about 70-75, but still, I could see myself buying this again when I want something with quite a bit of flavor that isn't smoked.

After hearing so much about this one (Or at least the old 18) I decided to splurge and give it a try. Nose: Quite a bit going on here. My nose isn't sophisticated enough to pull out individual flavors, but 'rich' is probably a good way to describe it. It has a savory odor that reminds me slightly of mushrooms. Taste: Well balanced, perhaps overly so. I get a hint of richness like I get from the nose, again perhaps mushrooms? Perhaps a bit of ash here as well/little smoke. The finish is short to medium, warming as it goes down. I get toffee on the back end. Now for my gripes with this whisky. It is very well made, as I said, perhaps overly so. There's a few layers of flavor here I can realistically pick out, and it's certainly a nice whisky that is absolutely not going to ruffle any feathers. However, I cannot say I care for the mouthfeel. It feels very 'thin' in my mouth, like I'm drinking water. I think this is a whisky that could really benefit from a higher ABV than 43% to help the mouthfeel issue and perhaps bring out a bit more of the richness I get from this. Ultimately, this whisky is very well made, but I wouldn't buy it again at this price point. Frankly, $150 is a really serious asking price and you can get some absolutely incredible whisky for less. To me, this is worth perhaps a hundred, and would likely make a great gift for someone who wants a 'balanced' whisky without overly aggressive flavor profiles. Personally, I couldn't likely justify buying a bottle again when so many good alternatives exist at a lower price (Ardbeg, Lagavulin etc.). Perhaps pick a bottle up to give it a try, or better yet, try it from a bar or someone else.

Enjoyable, if a bit unremarkable. Palate is largely nondescript, but smooth. Quite a bit of barrel spice, and ever so slightly fruity with a short if bitter finish. I was hoping to like this more than I ultimately did. At such a high price point (due to scarcity and popularity perhaps) I was thinking there might be something special about this one. Honestly, I feel like this is a 40-50 dollar whisky at best, and not worth the near absurd premium being charged for it. It reminds me of a nice Irish whisky, and you can probably find one just as nice at the 40-60 price range. Give it a try if you're really interested, but personally, I probably wouldn't buy another bottle until the price lowers substantially. A good 'introductory' whisky perhaps, but probably not a great choice for someone more seasoned. Update: As this one has oxidized on my shelf over the last few months, it appears to have gained some nuance. I now get more fruity notes than I did before. I've upped the rating to a 3.75 now. Definitely would buy again if it were reasonably priced, but right now, I wouldn't.

A good expression of a bourbon. For the price I was able to find this at, I feel like it's a good value. That being said, I don't understand the scarcity of this stuff. It's an enjoyable drink to be sure, but I wouldn't expect anything that's just going to blow your socks off here. I'd certainly encourage you to try it if you're interested and manage to find it, but for those of you who can't, I don't think you're missing anything extraordinary here either.

Saw a bottle of this and wasn't really familiar with glenmorangie (more a peat guy myself) but decided to pick it up and try it as it sounded interesting. From a taste perspective, it's somewhat citrus-y and very well rounded. That said, I don't really get anything here that reminds me of cake, but perhaps that's because my palate simply isn't sensitive enough to pick up subtle flavors. It's less sweet than you'd expect, being slightly sour in the finish and warming. It's definitely a solid whisky and not one I think anyone is going to outright hate, but conversely, I don't feel like there's anything particular to love about it either. For $90 MSRP, I was expecting a bit more from this than I ultimately got. It's certainly nice, but again at this sort of price point, it should be better than just pleasant.