Highland Park 18

Now that I'm done school I can now afford whisky that actually tastes good. I've had a handful of single malts and have enjoyed most of them. I think Talisker 10 is my favorite so far. My daily drink is a canadian whisky called Alberta Springs 10. Its not great, but economical and I like it. After getting my first good paycheck I thought I'd treat myself to a special whisky and bought HP 18, since it is "The best whisky in the world" acording to some. Now don't get me wrong, its not bad, but I was expecting more. Maybe I can still remember the finish of Talisker and was looking forward to that.

What do you guys think about HP 18. I think I'll stick the the less expensive whiskys until I've had a few more SMs.

Reply to
hoover
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If you started out liking Talisker as a single malt, then the more delicate highland-styled whiskies might be a bit of a disappointment. I think if you try more highly peated whiskies though (Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Ardmore, Bowmore, Benriach-peated, Caol Isla, et. al.) you will not be nearly as indifferent.

The less-peated, more delicate things can grow on you, though, particularly if you try them before dinner instead of after a meal or any other kind of palate-addling experience (like milkfats or cigars).

Reply to
Douglas W Hoyt

Try the Glenfarclas Cask Strength. ("105")

Reply to
caruso81

Talisker 10 is also a favorite of mine. The 18 year old and the Distiller's Edition are even better but of course more expensive. If you liked Talisker then you may like Lagavulin 16 although it is often more expensive. Then of course there is Ardbeg and Coal Ila. The Highland Park 18 is good but also expensive. Don't forget to treat yourself with a Laphroaig 10 year old cask strength and last, try to find some Smokehead at about $35.

Enjoy!

Reply to
Daniel

If you have found that you like the peated scotches, you might want to stick with them for a wile. Peated scotches can leave you with a Complete boquet for all the sences, each one has its own depth and complexity. Some suggestions are: The Ardbegs; start with the 10yr its some what inexpensive and, don't let the young age scare you its a wonderfully sofisticated scotch. You will learn age is all marketing. Another is Lagavulin; but can be quite pricey, and all the Laphroigs. Allso one called Peat Monster by Compass Box; this is a vatted malt and wonderfully priced. As far as Highland Park 18yr its a nice medium bodied scotch with vanilla and light mixed fruit on the nose, the vanilla and a slightly richer fruityness on the palet and add a medicinal charictoristic in the finish. I find it a refreshing chang at times. Some other scotches to try at a desent price are the Glenmorangie wood finishes.

-p.s. forgive the spelling

Reply to
dtoebe

The last scotch I bought was Glenmorangie 10. I'm somewhat dissappointed. I know I should explore different tastes, but I'd rather stick with Glenlivet 12. I find it is much for flavorful. I'm not sure about complexity and finish and all that, but I think the Glenlivet just tastes better. I recently had McClelland's Islay. I thought it was great, bit of a unpleasant finish, but I thought it was good for $26 CDN. If made great Rob Roys as well. I know that is frowned upon, but it was good, plus the unpleasant finish was masked. A friend bought me JW Gold for a house warming gift. Its really nice. I think you're just being a SMW snob if you don't like it much due to the blending grain whisky. I'm still quite new to scotch and my plan was to have a good representitive scotch from each region and then start betting more into it, but I think I'll focus on the peated scotches for a while.

Andy

Reply to
hoover

I've always considered Highland Park to be overrated. It's never done it for me. Especially when I was going through my peat phase. I find it lacks character. It's way too expensive for something so plain jane. That said, people always disagree with me about it.

If you want to spend $100 on a bottle of whisky, right now I'd say the best value is the 1990 Wilson & Morgan Caol Ila 15 Cask Strength. If you like peat it's phenolmenal (yuk yuk). Something much less expensive I enjoy for its richness is Scapa 14. It'll probably be available for about $50. It's another Island malt, like Talisker, but I find it alot less fishey, with more woody and malty flavours.

My notes:

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Colin.

Reply to
ColinL

I won't disagree with you. It's nice enough, but lacks the bite that I like in the Islays.

I happen to have that in the cupboard at the moment. I have peatier, more phenolic Islays around, like Laphroaigs, Ardbegs and young Lagavulins, but I do like that one. It's my hundred-dollar malt for this year, though I may look in that price range again when I visit Calgary at Christmas, where the good malts cost a lot less than in British Columbia.

bill

Reply to
bill van

"ColinL"

I agree with you. But I haven't had the latest batches, which acording to some is better.

Scapa 14 is a nice one. An interesting thing is that it has no socalled coastal flavours/aromas at all. Actually I find it amazingly similar to Dalwhinnie 15, only richer and with a bit more character. So much for M. Jackson's ideas of "terroir"...

Gunnar

Reply to
Gunnar Thormodsæter

Where do you see the Caol Ila 15 for sale? I cant find it on the web at all........

Reply to
Lew/+Silat

Go to

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and call them Monday. I don't specifically know about the CI 15, but they have an incredible selection of Scotch whiskys and good prices. That's where I buy all of mine. If they have one, eat my SPAM to email me. I can pick it up and FedEx it to ya.

Reply to
Nick Cramer

Rgr That Nick.. I order from them all the time..

Reply to
Lew/+Silat

You can find it in BC now? I cant find it for sale at all :)

Reply to
Lew/+Silat

That was the case here until a few years ago. Now there is relatively exotic stuff showing up from time to time in the several government liquor stores with specialty sections.

Trouble is, it's way overpriced. The Canadian dollar is at par with the U.S. now, but I see the Lagavulin 16 priced at $80 on U.S. websites, while it's $116 Cdn here.

Something less common, Longrow 10, I see advertised in the U.S. between $60 and $110, depending on the year. The only expression available here is priced at $170.

I think we're probably getting a double whammy here. B.C. and several other Canadian provinces are notorious for adding a percentage of the import price to a bottle, rather than a flat amount per bottle. So higher-end products become tremendously expensive. Alberta does the flat amount per bottle, and its exotic malt prices are usually 30-40 per cent lower than B.C.'s. (One store currently lists Lagavulin 16 at $76, and Longrow at $103, all Cdn)

Part II, most wholesalers haven't yet adjusted their prices for the newly at-par Canadian dollar, though I suppose the pound and the Euro are more relevant.

By the way, if you're traveling to Europe, my sense, mainly from posts by others here over the years, is that Britain is one of the higher-priced jurisdictions, again because of the taxes. Germany and Holland have lower prices, as I understand it.

Enough ranting. We pay through the nose, but at least the selection is improving.

cheers.

Reply to
bill van

The boxed bottle was presented to the lovely bride and her groom. I have no idea what they did with it!

I'm not far from the Wine & Liquor Depot. Drop by on yer next trip and share a wee dram or three. I might even Q something or get Jun to do some Thai. Eat my SPAM to email me and I'll send you my phone #.

Reply to
Nick Cramer

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