Got to start somewhere
1. Lagavulin (12yo Cask Strength, Bottled 2010, 56.5%)
So, it's more difficult than you might imagine to establish precisely how many operating malt distilleries there are in Scotland. Wikipedia reckons there are 99. Depending on who you ask, there are slightly fewer or slightly more than that.
But at this point in my mission
to try a whisky from every malt distillery in Scotland, the total number's not hugely important yet. There are at least 90-odd to work my way through before I start running out of options.
Where to start? Well, let's not mess about here. I've got a limited edition bottle of 12 yo Lagavulin cask strength in the cupboard and that strikes me as a good place to start. I also have a lifelong fondness for the peat-fuelled madness that Islay whiskies never fail to deliver.
This whisky was produced by White Horse Distillers and owned by UDV, which is itself owned by global spirits behemoth Diageo. But we won't hold that against it.
Tasting notes, after a fashion:
Bottled in 2010, this dram weighs in at a hefty natural cask strength of 56.5%. I don't know where I got it. I may have bought it at some point a couple of years ago, but more likely it was a freebie (I'm a trade journalist and have worked on and published a few food and drink magazines over the years). So, basically, I don't know how much it cost, but I'm guessing it was north of £60.
While it has very little bearing on the quality of the liquid inside, I love the bottle. Solid and chunky, like something you should rip the cork out of with your teeth and spit into a blazing fire.
Like most Islay malts, it's very pale in the glass - piss coloured (if you're reasonably well hydrated), but a little more gold to it than most of its island cousins.
A fierce salty, seaweed blast on the nose that you might expect from a cask strength Islay, followed by a soft but sharp citrus wave, the likes of which you would get from proper home made lemonade. Bit of bonfire smoke at the end.
Add a splash of water - the box recommends "plenty of water - try one part whisky to one part still water" - and the aroma just opens up into a glorious big swirling bag of briny, sweet, lemon droppy, green appley heaven.
Much sweeter and a bit lighter in the mouth than expected, all things considered, with more green apples, honey, cut grass and a bit of tar, all wrapped in a cloak of heavily smoked seaweed.
The finish is intense, it just keeps coming back over and over again, blasting your senses with smoke and sweet and salty waves.
It's Islay whisky but on steroids. Edging towards some of the Caol Ila whiskies I just love, but a character all of its own.
I think I'm going to enjoy this journey.
4/5
So, it's more difficult than you might imagine to establish precisely how many operating malt distilleries there are in Scotland. Wikipedia reckons there are 99. Depending on who you ask, there are slightly fewer or slightly more than that.But at this point in my mission
to try a whisky from every malt distillery in Scotland, the total number's not hugely important yet. There are at least 90-odd to work my way through before I start running out of options.
Where to start? Well, let's not mess about here. I've got a limited edition bottle of 12 yo Lagavulin cask strength in the cupboard and that strikes me as a good place to start. I also have a lifelong fondness for the peat-fuelled madness that Islay whiskies never fail to deliver.
This whisky was produced by White Horse Distillers and owned by UDV, which is itself owned by global spirits behemoth Diageo. But we won't hold that against it.
Tasting notes, after a fashion:
Bottled in 2010, this dram weighs in at a hefty natural cask strength of 56.5%. I don't know where I got it. I may have bought it at some point a couple of years ago, but more likely it was a freebie (I'm a trade journalist and have worked on and published a few food and drink magazines over the years). So, basically, I don't know how much it cost, but I'm guessing it was north of £60.While it has very little bearing on the quality of the liquid inside, I love the bottle. Solid and chunky, like something you should rip the cork out of with your teeth and spit into a blazing fire.
Like most Islay malts, it's very pale in the glass - piss coloured (if you're reasonably well hydrated), but a little more gold to it than most of its island cousins.
A fierce salty, seaweed blast on the nose that you might expect from a cask strength Islay, followed by a soft but sharp citrus wave, the likes of which you would get from proper home made lemonade. Bit of bonfire smoke at the end.
Add a splash of water - the box recommends "plenty of water - try one part whisky to one part still water" - and the aroma just opens up into a glorious big swirling bag of briny, sweet, lemon droppy, green appley heaven.
Much sweeter and a bit lighter in the mouth than expected, all things considered, with more green apples, honey, cut grass and a bit of tar, all wrapped in a cloak of heavily smoked seaweed.
The finish is intense, it just keeps coming back over and over again, blasting your senses with smoke and sweet and salty waves.
It's Islay whisky but on steroids. Edging towards some of the Caol Ila whiskies I just love, but a character all of its own.
I think I'm going to enjoy this journey.
4/5
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