@WhiskeyLonghorn Funnily enough, Lustau East India Solera was the next sherry on my list!

@Slainte-Mhath thanks for the port info. Based on what you said, you might like the East India Solara sherry from Lustau. It’s a blend of oloroso and PX, and it balances out the dryness of oloroso and sweetness of PX.

@WhiskeyLonghorn @ContemplativeFox Very interesting comments, thanks! I can certainly recommend Ximenez-Spinola 'Este' Solera 1918, probably one of the best PX sherries in the world. I would avoid the cheaper ones, as most are just super-sweet and very one-dimensional. I am not a huge fan of dry wines either, so I know I might struggle with Fino, Amontillado and Oloroso. However, I'll give it a try for the experience. I started to understand why sherry is unfashionable - it's either too dry or too sweet. I am trying to find a blend (e.g. 'cream') which hits the sweet spot in between. Port on the other hand is very enjoyable, sweet but not too sweet, and with a decent amount of wood (for Tawny and Colheita, that is). Ruby Port tends to be a bit spirity, so I'd probably opt for Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) if you don't want to spend a lot of money on Vintage Port. Don't overlook White Port, it offers a nice variation in flavor!

@ContemplativeFox I bought a book on sherry by Talia Baiocchi that came with great recommendations for affordable bottles and food pairings. Some of the I found on the shelves at local stores. The big box guys like Total Wine don’t carry much sherry. I also worked with a local wine shop in Austin to source a few I wanted to try. The good thing about sherry, unlike Scotch, is that most folks don’t know it exists, and it’s super affordable!

@WhiskeyLonghorn I'm enjoying trying some fortified wines as well to get a better feel for the cask finishes (though it can be pretty hard to find a decent variety of sherries, especially PX and oloroso). Coincidentally, I have that Lustau Oloroso on my shelf and now I'm dying to open it! Would be interested to hear more takes from you and @Slainte-Mhath as you try more :)

@Slainte-Mhath I’ve had experience with Big Peat’s cognac and sherry version. Was not worth the price at all.

@Slainte-Mhath as for actual bottles to try, I know bodegas Lustau put out a Don Nuno Oloroso that my father and I drank earlier this year that was superb. Great as a before or after dinner dram.

@Slainte-Mhath I’ve tried the four main styles of sherry (fino, ammontiallo, oloroso, PX) as well as ruby and tawny port, and Madeira wine. Much like yourself, I was trying to get a better understanding of wine finishes and sherry ageing. I found I don’t care for the really dry sherry like fino, and that PX is good once in a while, but super rich and concentrated (I prefer the whisky version!). I found the profile of oloroso sherry, tawny port, and Madeira to be to my liking. Those were more “balanced” to me.

Btw, has someone experience with Sherry & Port? I started to buy a few bottles to learn more about different cask types used in whisky maturation. Tawny Port and Colheita seems to become my new favorite, while I was shocked how sweet Pedro Ximénez actually is (and I have a sweet tooth!). Any recommendations what to try? https://www.vivino.com/users/slaintemhath

@Slainte-Mhath haha nice find on the quote from the Laing-Clan itself.

Additonal comment: I was reminded that Roy@Aquavitae actually asked Fred Laing 'How much Port Ellen is in Big Peat?': https://youtu.be/_YudcmY65GI?t=3577

Additional comment: My educated guess regarding the composition of 'Big Peat': 2/3 Caol Ila (obviously young), 1/3 Bowmore (young or medium-aged), a splash of older Ardbeg (they don't sell casks to independent bottlers for quite a while), and a homeopathic dose of Port Ellen (well, the PE can't be young, can it?).