We often get asked prior to gatherings ‘what should we bring’ and the short answer is almost always ‘something new’. This becomes a problem (despite a website to check said things) so we’re often given a list, of which Arran was chosen this time. Arran is not bad as a whisky, but it’s not a great scotch, not great value, and it lies to you.
Okay, this is the last scotch of our ‘holy baby Jesus the winter months have only been whiskey so far’ we’ll be onto a variety of other spirits starting next week. This was actually picked up as part of a Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal with Laphroaig Select, and Ardmore – or as some might say the deal of the fucken year.
The Dalmore has always been in the peripheral vision when a Glenfiddich review comes up, but it’s here for a slightly odd reason. Namely the recent movie release of Kingsman 2, of which the first film had a mention of a special version of the Dalmore Whisky – which is how we end up here.
(Happy Christmas btw folks!)
We’ve often maligned Macallan in-person as the ‘what those who know nothing of scotch buy and say is the pinnacle.’ which is likely why this is our first review of them. No need for a spoiler alert though – because it’s been maligned for a damn good reason – it’s awful.
So we’ve actually done 4 different Laphroaig reviews. (The Select, Three Wood, An Cuan Mor, and 15 Year); however despite having bought this very whisky multiple times in the lounge – it recently came to our attention it hadn’t been properly reviewed. Time to solve that. Laphroaig’s 10 year is most notably for being a constant companion in the Buffalo Lounge, not a year goes by without it gracing the shelves for a few short months, and that alone is a true marker of quality more than the other transient spirits in the lounge.
The image below does a decent job of catching how blue and striking this case and bottle are, but it’s certainly not the same thing. One would think something like this would have happened before what with the whole movie industry getting behind the teal-and-orange color palate, but it’s refreshing to see on a liquor store shelf. The scotch overall though is classic ‘fiddich.
Another gift to the lounge (yes all the gifts are scotch, don’t make a big stink about it we like scotch – don’t ruin this for us). Anyway this is a Speyside, and of recent memory it’s actually kind of a good Speyside. There is Talisker Storm, but that’s a uniquely well done scotch even for Talisker, not just the Speyside region.
This is a recent revival of an old scotch distillery (one of the largest during it’s time) located on the far north of the Scottish mainland. It’s a story I am glad exists as it’s a nice way to continue the sad story of a scottish distillery closing down. The whiskey itself though is quite nice which is a very critical plot point in that story.
I guess this is now a more Laphroaig return (we had like 7 scotches mostly in a row) starting with Laphroaig recently. This is another gift to the lounge in the form of a 15 year old whisky. While the lounge accepts all gifts, we accept those older than our nieces and nephews happily.
Well I had a recent stint across the pond, and a load of time at the airport before my return. So of course I walked around the duty-free shop looking for something neat that I’ve not seen in a local store. However with a very distinctive color and name (and let’s be fair the brand of Auchentoshan is a friend) the choice was quite obvious.
