The Auswine Forum

Over the past few years I have gradually developed a habit for this stuff. Certainly blows the blended stuff into the weeds but the prices certainly are eye-watering once you get into the 15+ years of age but I guess that's the price you pay for a class act. Anyhow I have been provided with a budget to set up a stock of SMW to compare the different types and regions so need some help learning about these. I don't mind wood and peat but do not like the heavily done stuff like Laphroaig that I liken to drinking whiskey in a bushfire.

So can anyone knowledgable in this area provide assistance on what's good and what's not, the styles of each area and the rough RRP.

Carl

One of my favourite producers is bruichladdich.
They have a large range of single malts for all budgets, styles and
Tastes.

I used to love Lagavulin until I found bruichladdich.

Try Nant (in Tassie) and Sullivan's cove (also in tassie) if you want to
Add some local ones to the selection.

Suntory yamazaki (Japan) is also great and one of my non scottish
Favourites as well

I'll be getting it Spirits of the World after 9 June and I confess that it's an area I have looked on as a trial rather than a joy.

If you want to try a big variety of whiskeys google 'whiskey samples australia' and behold the wonder! It will cost you though.

Good places to start would be Isle of Jura, Highland Park and Macallan, although the latter has changed it's style a lot in recent years. I am quite a fan of the lowlands, so if you can find the likes of Bladnoch, that would be excellent. Dalwhinnie and Oban were always reasonable but I haven't had either in a while. I could probably come up with a bunch more but thinking about drinking whisky at 6 am is doing my head in!!

Chuck, given that you aren't a big fan of the heavily peated style of malts, I'd suggest you start your malt journey by trawling through some of the distilleries in Speyside and the Lowlands. That's not to disqualify some of the Islay or highland malts, not all of which come in with smoking levels of phenolics. Of the Islay malts, Bruichladdich should have any number of editions that might suit you. The range of styles and individual bottlings that Jim McEwan initiated is staggering. However, you'd best steer clear of the Octomore, which comes in at about 150 ppm of phenolics, meaning you can smell an open bottle in the next street. Definitely a malt for heroes.

I only have a limited experience with single malts but the ones I enjoyed, and they seem to meet your criteria, in no particular order of preference are 17 year Glengoyne (near Loch Lomond), 15 year Glenfarclas (Speyside), Oban (Highlands I think) and 17 year Scapa (Orkney). Lovely malts all. And the good thing about malts is that you'll never find a bad one. Only different ones.

At the opposite end to the 'bushfire' whisky is Glenmorangie. The 18 yo (my favourite) at $130 is a bargain compared to say Macallan (18yo Sherry Oak). The Glenmorangie Private Editions are released once a year with this year's 'Tusail' having recently hit the Aussie shores. These tend to disappear after a few months and are never made again. Others that aren't over the top that I recommend include Glendronach Parliament (21 yo), Old Pulteney 21yo (Whisky of the year in 2012 from memory) Glenfarclas 25 yo and Glen Moray 16 yo which is relatively inexpensive. Outside of the UK, Sullivans Cove (as mentioned) make some nice whiskies, but are ridiculously priced. Yamazaki 12 yo is pretty good too.

+1 for the Glenmorangie, beautifully smooth.

Cheers
Craig

MIght be showing you something you have already seen, but look up the "Single Malt Flavour Map" on google, and that should get you an image which lays out in simple terms a number of the more well known brands, and where they fit stylewise.

Here are some posts I did when frequenting the Single Malt Forum (which seems to have died) you can get info about the style and maybe look to the younger iterations first up then if you like it, start exploring ones with age on them. Scott, Cam's brother is the man for Whiskey, I'm sure he'll check in at some point, he is a wealth of information.

Flavours of various SM's
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=1&t=664

Auchentoshan Triple Wood (my pick for someone starting out)
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=523

Highland Park 18YO
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=657

Glenfiddich Gran Riserva 21YO
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=591

Aberfeldy 21YO
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=570

Glenmorangie 18YO
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=513

Ardbeg 10YO
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=362

Oban 14YO
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=372

Dalwhinnie 15YO
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=379

Macallan 12YO
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=351

Lagaluvin 1994 Distillers Edition (nice way to ease yourself into some peaty goodness)
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=378

Glenlivet 21YO Archive
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=346

Laphroaig 18YO
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=334

Highland Park 25YO
http://www.singlemalt.com.au/forum/view ... ?f=3&t=333

Ha ! You were "Rockford" on that forum ! I spent quite a bit of time over there, was a good little place to visit for a while, but yes, sadly died a death.

I think Dave has got things pretty well pinned down here. Being an Islay-phile I would suggest you keep trying the Laphroaig, Lagavulin and most importantly Ardbeg's, they are amazingly interesting and complex drams once you get your head around the peat.

For someone starting out my suggestions would be:

Oban - a lovely dram, I remember an '85 or an '87 Distillers Reserve was the dram that really kicked off my love affair with single malts
Auchentoshan - agree with Dave here, the triple wood is a lovely drink, a bit obvious, but there is still plenty of interest
Glenlivet - I have always had a soft spot for this distillery, a couple of different wood finishes in the range, I liked the 18 year old sherry finish a few years back. A good dram for drinking, not contemplating.
Glenfarclas - The 105 is the absolute definition of a sherry bomb, but done brilliantly well - Xmas cake in a glass.
Old Pulteney - The 21 year that won best in world a few years back was a great drink, the whole range though is good fun with lots of briny lime sherbet action going on
Talisker - A good Island whisky, the 10 yr an excellent introduction to the style
Caol Ila - The most underrated dram on Islay in my opinion. An amalgam of the various Islay styles, peat, smoke, iodine, a nice bit of oiliness, lemon oil. The 18yr is brilliant

I would also recommend finding a whisky bar nearby and working through their list. I see you are in Adelaide, the Rob Roy Hotel has an excellent list. If you ever get over to Sydney, The Baxter Inn is fantastic, as is Eau De Vie in Melbourne.

Enjoy the journey, nothing quite like a warming malt on a cold night.

Ah Caol Ila. A lovely distillery which took us about an hour to walk to from our accommodation. The return walk took a little longer. Nothing like a breakfast dram before 10 am. And it went down a treat given how cold the morning was. While on Islay malts, you probably should also try Bowmore. My memories of a tutored tasting there are that their whiskies are all unpeated. My favourite remains the 18 year old. There's plenty to play with out there.

The Ardbeg Uigeadail would be my favorite... it is peated and also aged in sherry barrels.
I think the Balvenie Double Wood punches above it's weight.
Aberlour A'bunadh is a monster, at around 60% but is heavily sherried and excellent.
On the more delicate side, I have a Balblair 2000 open at the moment that has been highly enjoyable.

Not that I'm by any means an expert, but at a tasting last year, the best drop (after an unofficial but very very generous taste of some pappy) was the Nikka 15yo, very very good and unfortunately somewhat difficult to find.

On a side note, if the Gunners finish above Utd, then I win a bottle. Come on you gunners.

vovo wrote:On a side note, if the Gunners finish above Utd, then I win a bottle. Come on you gunners.

We would really have to stuff things up for that not to happen... *fingers crossed*
I was at the game vs Sunderland last night... actually not as bad as feared for a 0-0 draw, but still a frustrating result

Are you a gooner or was it more of a bet against United?

On the whisky front, I have quite a liking for sherry cask malts, and my suggestion is to try from a range of areas/styles - I find whether I like a more peaty, smoky whisky or a cleaner style can depend on mood as much as anything.

sjw_11 wrote:

vovo wrote:On a side note, if the Gunners finish above Utd, then I win a bottle. Come on you gunners.

Are you a gooner or was it more of a bet against United?

Yep a gooner, but only about as much as you can be in Aus. I try watch as much as I can but due to the time difference and amount of drama created these days I feel like I mostly follow from the tabloids.

Anyone tried this http://sullivanscovewhisky.com/ . Apparently won worlds best and at $500 per bottle it would need to be something special. Nice to see Tassie having a go. I know nothing about whisky except what I learnt on Boardwalk Empire.

tunetown wrote:Anyone tried this http://sullivanscovewhisky.com/ . Apparently won worlds best and at $500 per bottle it would need to be something special. Nice to see Tassie having a go. I know nothing about whisky except what I learnt on Boardwalk Empire.

I actually prefer the American oak version. That said, all 3 are getting very expensive

Peter Schlesinger wrote: While on Islay malts, you probably should also try Bowmore. My memories of a tutored tasting there are that their whiskies are all unpeated. My favourite remains the 18 year old.

While I agree that Bowmore should be tried I'm sure that they are not unpeated. I recommend the 15 year-old 'Darkest' - a richly sherried version that juxtaposes the peaty nose with the sweetness of the sherry cask. At a tasting I conducted a couple of years ago the non-peat Scotch lovers were decidedly intrigued - somewhat put off by the peaty nose but loving the palate and finish.

Carl, you say you've been given a budget so I'm assuming you're organizing a Scotch tasting. If so, based on my experience with organizing a number of single malt tastings for my running group, I recommend purchasing an array of different Scotches - styles, region, age and price. Everyone in the tasting group will be different and you never know what they will like or dislike. Here is what I did:

- Set a budget price and buy along a range of prices - that way you get a wide range - from inexpensive ones that appeal to the budget conscious to the more expensive ones.
- Buy all styles - they will appeal to someone.
- Serve them blind and reveal after a few minutes of discussion and reflection.
- if it's a large group limit the numbers - my limit was 14.
- At the end of the tasting people pick numbers out of a hat/bowl and get to pick the bottle they want to take home.

I've organized the event about 5 times, each time with 14 people, and here are some of the surprising results:

- A 25 year-old blended single malt, the most expensive Scotch of the lineup, was the least liked. The poor person who got last pick was in anguish as he watched everyone pick something else. Because it was universally reviled there was much hilarity as they watched him suffer - they still talk about it.
- An English couple, who did not like a particular Scotch when tasting it blind, was horrified to discover that I had served them their go-to Scotch, the Balvenie 'Double Wood'. Needless to say they did not take that bottle home.
- In one tasting, despite all the styles, everyone got to take a top-three home, including five or six who got to take their favourite. Even someone picking 11th or 12th out of 14 got their favourite.
- At the last tasting a lady who admitted to not liking peated Scotch drew the first pick, and to the surprise of everyone she chose the Laphroig 18 year-old.

So, my advice, pick a selection of styles, regions and age - and enjoy the ride.

Cheers..............Mahmoud.

Absolutely correct Mahmoud. Glengoyne was the distillery I was thinking of for unpeated malts. Which is near Loch Lomond and nowhere near Islay. I'm drinking the 17 year old now and a lovely smooth drop it is too. The polar opposite to Bruichladdich's Octomore.

Thanks everyone for your guidance. Plenty to go on here. A point of clarification. I do like some peat. Everyone says I'll get used to the heavily peated stuff. Hope I do. Visited Glengoyne last year and was not impressed as it lacked the X factor that peat delivers. So far:

Oban 14YO. This was the stuff that turned my head a year or 2 ago. Really good gear but I now need more variation.

Talisker Dark Storm. Really nice stuff.

Dalmore 12YO. Barmaid in Arrowtown NZ introduced us to this little gem after a bunch of Germans had demolished all the Oban. Even SWMBO loves it. Yum.

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban on a friends recommendation. Yet to try

Bowman 12YO. Ditto above. Yet to try.

Also for variety a Cyrus Noble Bourbon from the USA. A cut above the more sweeter styles and a revelation in US whiskeys for me. Not too sweet. good mate introduced it to me.

And Gavin's got a Tassie SMW that just may have to be included purely for scientific purposes.

Carl

I'd recommend the Michael Jackson guide to SMW. I reckon he's pretty reliable.

Peter Schlesinger wrote:Ah Caol Ila. A lovely distillery which took us about an hour to walk to from our accommodation. The return walk took a little longer. Nothing like a breakfast dram before 10 am. And it went down a treat given how cold the morning was. While on Islay malts, you probably should also try Bowmore. My memories of a tutored tasting there are that their whiskies are all unpeated. My favourite remains the 18 year old. There's plenty to play with out there.

Bowmore is a middling peated malt (fits with the geography too being in the middle ). Traditionally the unpeated or lightly peated Islays were Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain.

Where did you stay? Love staying in Port Ellen as close to the big three

cheers

Carl

Yeah Carl, you are right about Bowmore's peat content. I mentioned it in an earlier post. We stayed at a tiny place called Kiels, about a mile from Port Askaig. It was a three bedroom cottage owned by Islay's gamekeeper and his wife. Lovely people. They left us about 10 beautiful gutted trout which we fried up for dinner on one of the five nights we were there. We stayed on the island for about 5 nights, that part of the trip targeting the 2010 Islay malt whisky festival. The twilight views from the lawns of the Port Askaig hotel across to the Paps of Jura with their gradually shifting pastel colours in the changing evening light was fantastic. Mind you, while the local beer was great, the food was crap. There were no shortage of things to love about Islay but one that remains is the cylindrical shaped church at the top of the rise at Bowmore. Apparently so designed to eliminate any possibility of corners - everyone knows that corners are where the Devil hides. Just fell in love with Scotland and the Scots.

Peter Schlesinger wrote:Chuck, given that you aren't a big fan of the heavily peated style of malts, I'd suggest you start your malt journey by trawling through some of the distilleries in Speyside and the Lowlands. That's not to disqualify some of the Islay or highland malts, not all of which come in with smoking levels of phenolics. Of the Islay malts, Bruichladdich should have any number of editions that might suit you. The range of styles and individual bottlings that Jim McEwan initiated is staggering. However, you'd best steer clear of the Octomore, which comes in at about 150 ppm of phenolics, meaning you can smell an open bottle in the next street. Definitely a malt for heroes.

I only have a limited experience with single malts but the ones I enjoyed, and they seem to meet your criteria, in no particular order of preference are 17 year Glengoyne (near Loch Lomond), 15 year Glenfarclas (Speyside), Oban (Highlands I think) and 17 year Scapa (Orkney). Lovely malts all. And the good thing about malts is that you'll never find a bad one. Only different ones.

Oban is on the west coast. Glenfarclas 15yo is good, robust with little or no "bandaid" character.

Chuck wrote:Thanks everyone for your guidance. Plenty to go on here. A point of clarification. I do like some peat. Everyone says I'll get used to the heavily peated stuff. Hope I do. Visited Glengoyne last year and was not impressed as it lacked the X factor that peat delivers. So far:

Oban 14YO. This was the stuff that turned my head a year or 2 ago. Really good gear but I now need more variation.

Talisker Dark Storm. Really nice stuff.

Dalmore 12YO. Barmaid in Arrowtown NZ introduced us to this little gem after a bunch of Germans had demolished all the Oban. Even SWMBO loves it. Yum.

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban on a friends recommendation. Yet to try

Bowman 12YO. Ditto above. Yet to try.

Also for variety a Cyrus Noble Bourbon from the USA. A cut above the more sweeter styles and a revelation in US whiskeys for me. Not too sweet. good mate introduced it to me.

And Gavin's got a Tassie SMW that just may have to be included purely for scientific purposes.

Carl

Hi Carl,

Teachers Highland Cream, although a blended whisky, has a high malt content that contributes noticeable peatiness. Perhaps a whisky for you to become more familiar with that character. I haven't had it for some years but remember Talisker 10yo as having noticeable peatiness.I'll back some of those mentioned above that I've tried. Glenfarclas 15yo and 21yo, The Balvenie Double Wood, each lightly if at all peated. One of my favourite whiskies is Lagavulin 16yo from Islay is peated but not as heavily as Laphroaig. Bowmore is about in the middle in terms of peaty Islay whisky.

Cheers

daz

Peter Schlesinger wrote:Yeah Carl, you are right about Bowmore's peat content. I mentioned it in an earlier post. We stayed at a tiny place called Kiels, about a mile from Port Askaig. It was a three bedroom cottage owned by Islay's gamekeeper and his wife. Lovely people. They left us about 10 beautiful gutted trout which we fried up for dinner on one of the five nights we were there. We stayed on the island for about 5 nights, that part of the trip targeting the 2010 Islay malt whisky festival. The twilight views from the lawns of the Port Askaig hotel across to the Paps of Jura with their gradually shifting pastel colours in the changing evening light was fantastic. Mind you, while the local beer was great, the food was crap. There were no shortage of things to love about Islay but one that remains is the cylindrical shaped church at the top of the rise at Bowmore. Apparently so designed to eliminate any possibility of corners - everyone knows that corners are where the Devil hides. Just fell in love with Scotland and the Scots.

Lucky man- that's a lot of trout for dinner!

cheers

Carl

It's not quite as self indulgent as it sounds Carl. We were touring with another couple.

A whisky buying problem = the best sort of problem. There is LOADS of awesome advice here from the secret society of auswhisky rebels.

It is a nice idea to start a collection encompassing the regions. Terroir with whisky is a funny thing as it can often be more romanticised than influential on the spirit itself (stills, casks and maltings are what to look at). That being said, it is a topic for further down the track.

Although you probably know this already, it is good to clarify the 3 truths to starting out in whisky:
- An older whisky does not mean a better whisky.
- A darker whisky does not mean a better whisky.
- A more expensive whisky does not mean a better whisky.

The first question that needs to be asked, what do you like to drink? It’s not Coke and Pepsi here, there will be great whiskies some people love but others dislike.

Sometimes before committing to a bunch of bottles you may end up not enjoying, it is never a bad idea to sample a few. Living in Adelaide you are actually pretty close to a decent whisky scene. As mentioned above, the Rob Roy Hotel tends to have some exceptionally diverse whisky behind the bar and they play host to some good tastings. I believe they have a Glenfarclas tasting coming up.

The Malt Whisky Society of Australia (http://www.mwsoa.org.au) used to be THE club in Australia before bigger, better funded clubs/companies took their thunder. Craig Daniels is a top bloke and I would recommend joining up and going along to their events.

I am writing a lot here... so I will continue in another post!

That being said, you still have to fill your home supply with something! If you are starting out with no set wants/needs/desires, I would recommend 3 styles to start a collection: Bourbon cask, sherry cask and peated malt. I think this gives a really good feel for the 3 most popular styles of scotch and tends to point guests toward a dram they love. A few readily available ones are:

Bourbon Cask: Really the core of the scotch industry. Ex American bourbon cask whiskies are the most widely produced (because they are readily accessible and cheaper). We are talking about examples here that have no fancy big peat or exotic finishes. Bourbon cask whisky is oddly enough a bit out of fashioned (except from Japan), as people want crave more flavour influences. That is fair, however, (and this sounds super pretentious) it is good to know what the true heart and core of these whiskies are by knowing what an unadulterated bourbon cask whisky is.

- Glenlivet 12. Really your stock standard example of a Speyside single malt at. Cereal and floral palate. Look I am not going to lie, it won’t blow anyone’s socks off, it is a benchmark whisky that doesn’t pretend to be anything fancy at $50. Why else should you pick this up now? Because it is being DISCONTINUED. Sadly this classic of the whisky scene will be replaced by a no age statement ‘founder’s reserve’.
- Glenmorangie Original. At one stage this used to be the best selling single malt in Scotland, so that has to count for something right? The reason it isn’t anymore is because they changed the packaging and bumped up the price. Not something the Scottish approve of.

Sherry Cask: Some say the king of whisky barrels, others say it is witchcraft. PX and Oloroso sherry casks have influenced whisky for time immemorial. Often leading to the common descriptors of: Christmas Cake, Pudding, Orange peel, etc.

Step 1
- Glendronach 15: A lesser known distillery but possibly best example of a proper sherry whisky at the price point. This one, in my opinion, is the star of their standard release range.
- Glenfarclas 15: Once an underdog distillery they are now one of the biggest names in quality sherried whisky. The 15 tends to outshine most of the range, including many of its older siblings.

Step 2
- If you find sherry cask is your thing, you will soon be swimming with monsters. Cask strength (no added water) sherry monsters. Aberlour A’Bunadh and Glenfarclas 105 are the 2 easiest picks. Sitting at around 60% ABV these are uncompromising bruisers that have huge toffee and treacle flavours. Guaranteed to put hair on the chest while making you look awesome.

Peated: Although peated whisky is not exclusively Islay, why mess with the masters? I know what you are saying that you don’t want to go TOO big, but other times it is good to be thrown in the deep end.

Step 1
- Ardbeg 10. Despite the distillery being bought up by the Moet juggernaut and being marketed until the ends of the earth, Ardbeg has retained its soul. A bit lighter than your Lagavulins and Laphroaigs, it has the unmistakable house style of lemon citrus. This might suit your early adoption into the cult.
- It is still very much worth considering the bigger hitters of Lagavulin 16 and Laphroaig 10/Quarter Cask. They are really core drams that you may find grow on you over time. Bunnahabhain 12 gets a special mention, although it has barely any peat (less than what Balvenie add!), it has a decent sherry influence and will give you just a little bit of Islay love.

Step 2
- Kilchoman. The newest and therefore trendiest distillery on Islay - this will give you some sweet whisky street cred. Unfortunately they charge a lot of money for some very young malt, but they are on to something good. Aim for their more special releases such as Loch Gorm. Try a pour if you are at a bar.
- Lagavulin Distiller’s Edition. A mix of PX sherry cask and the classic Lagavulin. This one tends to be less moody and brooding than it’s 16yo cousin (which is a pro and a con for some!). Great dram.

Thanks Scott,

Nice write up.

I went through a number of the distilleries last year (when golf wasn't getting in the way!) and the issue facing a number of producers is access to quality Sherry barrels. Macallan 18yo (for example) has gone to a ridiculous price, as they have to ration stock. Indeed, Macallan and others have apparently started making their own sherry, purely to get access to barrels.

I've never been a fan of the Glendronach 15 yo, but have enjoyed the 18. Also love the 25 yo Glenfarclas. And yep, Glenmorangie pricing has gone up in line with the price of Krug etc. Funnily enough, owned by the some company...

Cheers

Mike