Need a worth replacement for my Wurray McDavid 1994 ardbeg

[mattk]

I have been searching and searching for a worth replacment for the now rare Murray McDavid 1994 Ardbeg mission gold series.

That strong sherry undertone smoothed by that creamy smoke is what is my ideal Dram. I do have my less expensive standbys such as Talisker 10 ( i have tried many Taliskers but the 10 is the best even against the 25 year) I also enjoy Laphroaig 10 and 15 year and my second favorite was the Lagavulin 1991 distillers edition. I also enjoy the Ardbeg Beist and 10 year. Just got a Ardbeg Uigeadial and its good but not nearly as good as the McDavid 1994.

I am looking for something to add to the collection but I am tired of blindly buying dissapointing bottles. The 1994 ardbeg and the 1991 Lagavulin are my favorates so far in my 9 year tour.

can anyone recomend something that might make a worthy addition to my collection. I love the sherry and smoke. I look for bottles that cost less than 150.00 american but for something really special I could nearly double that.

Things I have tried and would buy again and again.
Dalwhinnie 15 year (my standby highland)
Talisker 10 year ( my favorate of all before trying more expensive bottles 2x the price)
Lagavulin distillers edition 1991 double matured ( the 2nd best I have had)
Murray Mcdavid Ardbeg 1994 (opened my eyes to how good scotch can be. Top of the list)
Ardbeg nam Beist ( 3rd favorate and well rounded. too bad its going away)
Ardbeg 10 year (Equal to the talisker and laphroig 10's)
Ardbeg Uigeadial (Good but I was hoping for something equal to the lagavulin 1991 or the 1994 ardbeg)
Laphroig 10, 15 years ( also a good standby )

thanks in advance.
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Islay fan. smoke is my life

[Carson]

Hi mattk and welcome to the forum.

You would be very lucky to find a bottle of the Murray McDavid 1994 Ardbeg mission gold series.

Personally i havent had any Lagavulin Distillers Edition that was less than excellent, currently i am drinking the 1994 bottling and it is as good as ever.

Have you tried Ardbeg Supernova 2009 & 2010, i prefered the 2009 but there wasnt much between them , both excellent.

Have you tried anything from Port Ellen

[Archer]

I think your only hope of getting a bottle of the Ardbeg 1994 mission gold series would be from an auction, always worth looking out for it on ebay.

[Big Mac]

hi mattk and welcome to the SMW forum

One i will mention that i think you may like is the Laphroaig 30 year old, it is superb. It is getting hard to get hold of now but i see The Whisky Exchange have a unboxed bottle www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/shop/product/3/twe3412/Laphroaig-30-Year-Old-Unboxed.htm

Another is Laphroaig 1981 27 year old Oloroso sherry cask, again this is absolutely superb and may may suit your taste for a bit of smoke and sherry.
www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/shop/product/3/twe8949/Laphroaig-1981-27-Year-Old.htm

Mac

[mattk]

Well Big Mac those bottles are three times my price range so I won't be getting those any time soon.

I will have to look into some more lagavulin distillers edition releases. I wish Laphroig had more special bottlings but I don't seem to be able to find any.


haven't tried the supernova on account that the local shop charges 12,000 yen for it which is about 150.00 dollars. That would make it the second most expensive bottle i have gotten and I'm not convinced that it would be worth it compaired to a lagavulin distillers which would be far cheaper. how dose it compaire?
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Islay fan. smoke is my life

[Mark]

Mac i have been lucky enough to try both the Laphroaig 30 & 1981 sherry cask and i agree both were superb, just wish i could justify spending the money on them but i can buy a few decent bottles for the price these are now.

mattk the Ardbeg Supernova is excellent and Ardbeg know it hence the price. Hard to compare it to the Lagavulin DE as they are 2 diffent beasts but both the very best for there style.

I would love to see more big smoky whiskies with a sherry influence. From whats available at the moment i would say Lagavulin DE and Ardbeg UIgeadail are the best affordable to drink bottlings.

[Fergie]

mattk, have you tried the Bowmore 1990 16 year old Sherry Cask, not in the same league as Ardbeg and Lagavulin for smoke and sherry intensity but a decent dram.

[mattk]

I have not had much bowmore. I recall i had purchased a bottle some years back and it hadn't stuck with me but I have heard that some of the special bottlings are very good.

I just purchased several bottles to restock my collection. I may have to look at getting a supernova bottle to try it out. I made the mistake of getting an Ardbeg Blasda which is similar to the bruichladdich classic that I just got too to try out but I didn't like the ardbeg as much. The bruichladdich was a little dry at the finish for my taste but worth the purchase unlike the over priced Blasda. Ardbeg has really gotten to be expensive in these last couple years.

Has anyone had experiance with Ledaig? I had purchased a 10 year for my wedding rehersal dinner and it was very good. I was interested to hear about some of their other offerings.
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Islay fan. smoke is my life

[Bookie]

[James T]