Ardbeg 10 year old

Let me start by saying that Ardbeg is one of my very favorite Single malt Scotch whiskies. The first time I tried Ardbeg I was in San Diego about 2 years ago attending a friend’s wedding. While out at a whisky bar I wanted to try something smoky and different, so the bartender suggested Ardbeg. Since then this very Scotch has topped my list of favorites.

If you love smoke and peat then this is a must try for you, if you have not already tried it. For my non whisky drinkers, I would not recommend you try this one first if you are trying to get into whisky. This whisky is extremely strong and something you should try once you’ve experience lighter whisky notes. Basically, non whisky drinkers should develop a palate for whisky before reaching for this one as it is strong. I can guarantee you that it will be worth the wait once you do eventually try.

This great Scotch is from the Islay region of Scotland. For a little island, this place doesn’t hold back when it comes to the boldness of their whiskies. Ardbeg-10 is one of the peatiest and smokiest whiskies you will ever taste. But before we get to taste let’s take it one step at the time and start with the smell.

Smell: To be clear, you don’t really have to dig your nose too deep into the bottle to immediately get hit with that smoky smell. While drinking other whiskies I’ve had to literally smell the bottle a couple of times before really knowing what I smelled. The minute you open the Ardbeg bottle, you will get hit with a burst of smoke, peat, pepper and yes bacon (AMAZING).

Taste: If that smell left you salivating then wait till you taste it. When tasting you get extreme boldness, peat, smoke and pepper. As it goes down you get a wonderful tangy burn that will make you want to reach for another sip.

Finish: To be honest it’s the whisky that just keeps on giving. The finish is delightfully smoky. I will share with you that I’ve had a very busy and stressful work week. Last night after getting home from work and before dinner I poured myself a dram of Ardbeg and it was the drink that brought back a smile on my face. Yes it is that good in my opinion and yes I do recommend you try.

To me what’s also great about this whisky is the price; depending on where you buy you can pay around $45-$55 for a bottle. It is a great deal for this whisky and I believe worth it. I do own a bottle of Ardbeg and I will continue to keep purchasing. If you try it, I do hope you enjoy as well.

Cheers!

P.S. One last thing before I close this out, every time I close a blog out I always wonder if people really think that I hit the bottle a lot. Let me clarify that I do not! My father was an alcoholic and that has made me very aware of alcohol and how much I consume. My father is now 20+ years sober (hooray!). So, I drink responsibly and not to heavy handed, as everyone should.

The Dalmore 12

Ah Monday’s! If you had to drag yourself out of bed this morning and are now drinking a giant cup of coffee then we are in the same boat. Monday’s are extremely difficult to get into especially after a nice weekend. To cheer you up and put a smile on your face I have these sweet words to say to you, The Dalmore 12.

First and foremost I am a sucker for good whisky but if you ask me what makes for an even better whisky I would tell you a well packaged whisky. This whisky has a good taste and extremely good looks.

The front of the bottle is adorned with beautiful royal stag antlers. As the saying goes, “never judge a book by its cover,” however if this whisky were to be a book you would not go wrong by grabbing it for its cover because the product has a perfectly balanced start, middle and end.

The Dalmore 12 is a Highland whisky with an ABV of 40%. It is matured in both American white oak casks and oloroso sherry casks. A bottle, depending on where you go, will cost you around $40-$50+. For the taste and the bottle, this is a very good price point.

The Experience

Color: Dark honey (the color makes the bottle look even better)

Smell: Sweet and Raisins

Taste: I first tasted this on the rocks as it was my boyfriend who ordered it and I took a sip from his dram. To me it tasted like liquid raisins. I enjoyed it so much that I had to get my own neat glass. The neat dram was sweet, mild and still had that nice raisin taste. It really doesn’t disappoint!

Now I am not a fan of really sweet drinks, so much so, that I can’t even handle sugar in my coffee. I wanted to clarify that because although this whisky is sweet, the sweetness is not overwhelming. In other whiskies I’ve been able to taste the sherry from the sherry casks, but in this whisky all the notes are very well balanced that they all marry harmoniously.

If you wanted something different to try and are looking for it to be well priced then I would highly recommend this very good looking bottle. Whether it be to give to someone as a gift or for yourself, it is well worth the price and you will enjoy the taste.

The Dalmore 12 would also be a good whisky to taste for all those non whisky drinkers as it is mild and not too strong. I will be adding this to my collection not just to have it and enjoy myself but to also finally convert my sister-in-law into a whisky drinker. Now go out there and try it. If you do, feel free to let me know your thoughts.

Cheers!

Springbank 15 year old and whisky regions

Excitement was what I felt when I first saw this single malt labeled on the menu. Ordering a Springbank would mean that I would have officially tried a Scotch whisky from all 6 Scotch whisky regions. For those non whisky drinkers there are technically 6 regions. I've listed those regions below along with the whiskies I’ve written about so far on this blog.

Whisky Regions:

The Lowlands: Auchentoshan
The Highlands: Oban 14
Speyside: Macallan 12; Glenfiddich 21; The Glenlivet 15
Islay: Bowmore 15; Lagavulin 16
Campbeltown: Springbank 15
Islands: Jura Prophecy

Springbank 15 year old

Now onto the Springbank which is what we are here for. This 15 year old whisky is from the region of Campbeltown.  It is matured in sherry casks and has an ABV of 46%. If you are look to buy, a bottle will cost you about $60-$80 depending on where you shop.

An interesting tidbit to know about this distillery is that it is the only distillery in Scotland to product three very different whiskies. They are: Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn.

When first tasting it I was really hoping to like it but that is not really how my experience went.

The Experience:

Color: Was a nice golden color

Smell: Sweet and sherry

Taste: Sweet, medicinal and you get hints of the sherry casks.

The key word I used to describe this whisky when I was first tasted it was medicinal. Now I am not a fan of any drink tasting medicinal unless I have a cold and I am drinking cough syrup. I think the medicinal notes in this whisky were made more prominent with the sherry notes.

I did have this whisky in between dinner and after tasting I realized that it is a whisky that might be best enjoyed after dinner due to the sweet tasting notes. I know that in my Macallan 12 post I mentioned everyone has a different palette. This being the case I am certain that there are people out there that might enjoy this whisky and who might enjoy the medicinal notes. Who knows there might even be people who don’t get that medicinal note but given that I did get them, I am not entirely a fan of this whisky.

I would not recommend a new whisky drinker to start with this whisky however if anyone wants a sweet tasting after dinner whisky then this would certainly be that whisky. 

Cheers!

Redbreast 12 Cask Strength

Let’s be honest, in my lifetime of whisky drinking I’ve mainly gone ahead and reached for that Scotch whisky. I was never much of an Irish whiskey drinker until Green Spot and now Redbreast made an appearance in my life. These two whiskies have completely shown me what I was missing out in Irish whiskey. For all those Scotch whisky drinkers, if you haven’t tried any of these, then run don’t walk to try these because they will blow you away.

I first wrote about Green Spot on July 3rd of this year but it wasn’t till this very past weekend that I finally sampled Redbreast 12 Cast Strength. I will assure you that Redbreast 12 Cask Strength did not disappoint; it just made me wish I had not waited this long to try it.

Redbreast 12 Cask Strength to me is extremely smooth Irish whiskey and it is single pot still whiskey at its finest. Even though the single pot still process has begun to revive itself, Green Spot and Redbreast have been using this process from the start and were the only two brands that never stopped using this process to this day and age.

This Cask Strength is matured in Oloroso Sherry Casks much like the original Redbreast 12. It has an ABV of 57.7% and if you were to buy a bottle it would cost you around $60-$80 depending on where you buy.

The Experience:

Color:

• Golden color with hints of amber

Smell:

• Fruity
• Spicy

Taste:

• The first note I tasted in the palette was a peppery note. That was followed by spices and a hint of sherry.

The Finish:

• This whiskey ended with a nice mild burn but with a smoothness that only made me smile. The first words I said after my first sip was, “Wow, now that is good.” 

Sampling this Cask Strength was a great way to start the weekend and it is a whiskey I will certainly be adding to my collection.

For all those non whiskey drinkers looking for a nice Irish whiskey to try then you don’t have to look any further, you’ll love this Redbreast 12 Cask Strength so please go ahead and give it a world. And if by any chance you ever find yourself in Ireland then grab a sample or maybe even a bottle to bring back of Green Spot. It too will not disappoint! 

Cheers!

Macallan 12

One of joys of whisky is that you can share a dram with a person and chances are that person will get a different whisky tasting experience than you will. Everyone has a different pallet so when it comes to deciphering the tastes in a brand of whisky not everyone will taste the same notes.

I have experienced in more than one occasion instances where I’ve shared a dram with someone else and the notes I tasted were not the same notes they described. The reason I feel I have to explain that is because any whisky drinker out there will tell you that they have heard of Macallan, know that it has a huge following and is a trusted brand.  To start my Macallan experience I went for the Macllan 12. Many rave about this being their favorite 12 year old, but in all honesty, I don’t completely agree.

With its huge popularity and following as you can image I was surprised to not love this whisky.

My issue with it: 

• For a 12 year-old, this Speyside Scotch whisky wasn’t bad, but I’ve had better. Since it is matured in Sherry Oak casks there seems to be a significant sherry taste present.

The Experience:

Color

• Amber with hints of gold

Smell

• Sherry
• Woodsy

Taste (Neat)

• I first tasted the sherry, which was followed by spice and wood. I found it a bit harsh tasting.

Taste (Splash of water)

• The splash of water actually made this a bit smoother and the notes comes together, but the sherry was still prominent in the taste. Overall I did prefer and appreciate the smoothness of a splash of water.

For non-whisky drinkers this is actually not a bad whisky to get started with. It is affordable, but also a brand known and recognized by all. It has an ABV of 40% and the cost range, depending on where you buy, is $40-$60.

Aside from my initial issue with this whisky, I think I went into this tasting thinking that it would be amazing and completely worth the hype. I was unfortunately slightly letdown. With the huge following it has, I am sure the older ranges will make up for this 12 year-old. I am actually looking forward to tasting and sharing my experience with those older ranges.

Cheers!

Glenfiddich 21

If you’ve ever visited the Glenfiddich website you will notice that one of the site banners indicates that it is “The world’s most awarded single malt,” http://www.glenfiddich.com/. And if you aren’t a whisky drinker you first initial thought is to roll your eyes because you feel they are trying to get you to drink their whisky. For all those non whisky drinkers and those who haven’t tried Glenfiddich as a whisky drinker I can attest that that this statement absolutely holds true. Excitement can’t begin to describe how I felt when I got the chance to try this Glenfiddich 21.

You don’t exactly have to be a whisky drinker to truly appreciate and enjoy this whisky. Having been matured for 21 years shows itself in how smooth the whisky is. It doesn’t end with a burn but rather a nice smooth warming note that I would recommend to any whisky and non whisky drinker out there.

Glenfiddich 21 is matured in Caribbean rum casks. It has an ABV of 40%. This bottle can cost you about $120-$140. Please note that I also saw it for more and less than this price range so it does depend on where you buy. This whisky is truly worth the price you pay to drink it. I truly wish this was a bottle of whisky I had in my collection, but sadly it is not. I was happy to try it after the bottle was given as a gift to my boyfriend.

The color:

-          Dark gold

The smell:

-          Sweet

-          Woodsy

The taste:

-          A peppery taste was what first hit my palate

-          Followed by the taste of spices

The finish:

-          It is very warming and it’s ending spicy notes makes you keep coming back for more.

In my opinion and as a suggestion to non whisky drinkers, this whisky should be tried neat. If it ever gets to be too strong for you then you can add a splash of water or even an ice cube. Once you’ve tried it then you will definitively know why this is the most decorated single malt out there.

If you’ve been following my blog you would have noted that I have in previous write ups proclaimed to be an Islay girl, as most of my top favorite whiskies are from Islay. However, not all my top 5 favorites are from Islay as this one Speyside whisky does hold a very strong spot in that top 5. This whisky is truly a cut above the rest and I highly recommend one tries it.

Cheers!