New Member - Re-discovering Malt Whisky

[John_G]

Recently I discovered some part used bottles of malt whisky lurking in the basement, untouched for some 20 or 30 years from when I regularly had a dram of malt whisky (Highland Park, Lagavulin, Clynelish, Glenmorangie, etc). Since then I have hardly ever touched whisky but the discovery prompted me to once again start exploring.

It is wonderful newly experiencing the range of styles and flavour of what I have sampled so far. The comments are more a reflection of my inexperience, jaded palate and pour sense of smell than anything else.

Strathisla 12 (very enjoyable as an everyday dram)

Aberlour 16 (very enjoyable but I wasn't blown away)

Aberlour A'Bunadh Batch 53 (loved the intensity of flavour but found it quite fiery, even when diluted)

Dalwhinnie 15 (I enjoyed it, but less than the other malts - probably too subtle for me)

Laphroiag Quarter Cask (great experience - something to return to rather than an every day dram)

Highland Park 12 (this is one that I like very much indeed)

Balblair 1997 2nd Release (of all those I have sampled this is the one I am falling in love with - so much so that I am ordering a second bottle while I can)

If anyone has any suggestions they would be very welcome.

[opelfruit]

I'd say your views on the whiskies you have listed are pretty spot on actually, certainly correlates to my view on them, so I wouldn't be too concerned about your palate or nose


I'd suggest, if funds allow, to buy at just above entry level. Entry level whisky is there for people who are getting into whisky for the first time and offer (on the whole) a sedate and gentle welcome into the world of whisky. Once you go just beyond entry level things start to get much more interesting with things like higher abv, lack of chill filtration and colouring and it's not always a huge jump up in price.

I think that the slightly more challenging whiskies to your basic starter ones would greatly benefit you future experience as you seem to have a decent sense of what is good already.
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"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[Diademo]

Good to hear that you are back to the dark (malt) side John.

I suggest that you try some more complex malts, aged between 15 and 21 years.
You can start with:
- Glendronach 21 (heavy sherry)
- Glengoyne 18 (medium sherry)
- Old Pulteney 17 (maritime)
- Lagavulin 16 (peated)
- Glenfarclas 21 (medium sherry)
- Balvenie, 17 (sherry finished)
- Deanston 18 (1st fill bourbon finish)
- Balblair 1989 (bourbon/sherry mix) or 1990 (sherry)
- Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban (Port), Nectar D'Or (Sauternes), Lasanta (Sherry finish)
This is just for start:

If you are traveling you will have opportunity to try readily available single malts as Glenfiddich (15yo) or Glenlivet (21yo) at many hotel bars. At the airport's "Duty Free Shops"? they are offering tasting of their exclusive range - it's a good starting point to rediscover some other brands.

Good luck and enjoy your journey:

[ralfy legend]

I was looking forward to hp12 but felt let down as thought nothing special, not saying I couldn't finish it,, just to say I'm not peated fan completely but we all different

[John_G]

Thanks for your help and advice. I will certainly now explore the more complex whiskies, as you suggest - that is after my bank balance has recovered from the pre-Christmas splurge.

I was able to get another bottle of Balblair 1997 (which I like very much) - probably the last bottle stocked by those retailers found by Google and Wine-searcher.

It is curious how wine-searcher picks up some retailers that Google doesn't, so I guess there must be retailer websites that either aren't optimised for Goodle or Google misses for some reason. Also, I know that some wine merchants who have an online presence are not included in the wine-searcher results.

[Xosder]