How to reacquaint myself with scotch

[mattthr]

I startedy whiskey life drinking Jameson. From there I stared working my way through some classic Scotch: Glenlivet and Oban then on to Talisker and Lagavulin, enjoying myself the whole way.

Then I bought a litre of Laphroaig in an airport duty free, not having tried it first. I hated it: the harsh, medicinal quality was just awful. Yet having spent a substantial amount on a bottle, I forced myself to finish it. It took a long time and, by the end, I was totally off Scotch. Maybe my palette had changed. Either way, I couldn't stand the thought of anything with a tang of smoke.

I spent the next couple of years drinking good Bourbon: Maker's Mark, Knob Creek etc. Truth be told I really enjoyed it. There seemed to be good depth of flavour there and enough detail to be satisfying without struggling with seaweed and Iodine.

Now I'm toying with the idea of trying some Scotch again, but truth be told I'm nervous. A lot of popular and acclaimed Scotch is very peaty: people have suggested Bowmore, Ardberg and the like and I just don't want a repeat of that awful Laphroaig experience, even knowing I once drank and thoroughly enjoyed Lagavulin.

I'm wondering about going the other way and picking a super-sweet scotch with just a hint of peat like Craggenmore or Balvenie Doublewood. Is that the way to go from here, or am I just being a wuss?

[ralfy legend]

Dosnt matter which way you go because if it's a nice whisky then to me that's all that counts and the balvenie is nice and by all accounts so if the cragganmore so just chill and enjoy.

[ralfy legend]

Dosnt matter which way you go because if it's a nice whisky then to me that's all that counts and the balvenie is nice and by all accounts so if the cragganmore so just chill and enjoy.

[opelfruit]

Only a very small amount of whisky in the market is peated. The vast majority is unpeated.

You seem to be ok with lightly peated whiskies from the Islands and Highlands such as Talisker, so just stary away from Islay malts (or anything from Speyside then mentions peat) and you'll be ok.

You could drink a different whisky every day for a year and not get a whiff of peat, so don't worry.


First suggestion would be to head to Speyside as this tends to be quite far away from the peated style.
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"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[IndianaBlues]

If you like bourbon and its inherent sweetness try something sherry-casked, such as Glenfarclas. Another sweet whisky from that area is Cardhu, in my opinion try the 12-year old rather than the NAS Gold version as I find the 12 to have much greater depth. The two that have been recommended to you, Bowmore and Ardbeg, are both Islay whiskies so you probably don't want to go there straight away (although Bowmore's core range have always been a bit lacklustre to my tastebuds...)

[Alexppp]

[Bookie]

I agree, explore the Speyside and Highland single malts, many of the big brand names have some excellent whisky ranges such as The Balvenie, Glenfarclas, Aberlour, Balblair, Dalwhinnie, Glengoyne, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Glenmorangie.

[mattthr]

Thanks for the suggestions and support. It does feel like there's a real focus on heavily peated, smokey whiskeys on certain connoisseur sites.

[arqueturus]

[5-12-1908]

Ive just been give a laphroaig select.
Never had it before and im not to keen on the normal one. Although i do love talisker.
Think ill shelve this bottle until i find out what its like.

[gfspencer]

Try Dalwhinnie 15. They call it "The Gentle Spirit" for a reason.