Islay Malts...how many are they?

My very first experience was with Thin Lizzy, Whisky in the jar, and I also believed for several years that whisky should be spelled whiskEy...terrible. Then I was (sadly enough) exposed to Irish coffee, and a diversity of Grant's, and Bell's and who-be-thy-name...sigh

...Well. Isaly Malts...

I got introduced to Laphroaig, and things started to fall in place. I'm still in love, and have met with (of course) Lagavoullin and Bowmore. Recently, new (to me) names have turned up. And I'm amazed about how many Islays there seems to be. The Ileach, Ardbeg and some more I can't remember. I love the Islays. No other malt I've tasted does for me what Laphroaig, or Bowmore does.

Do we have an expert here? More about Isalys, and compareable (non-Islays). Tell me!

-- shelby

I'm far from an expert (having less than a dozen whiskies), and I suspect some of those far more knowledgeable will weigh in, but in the meantime, you might want to check out:

Aberlour A'bunadh is probably my favorite, as are Bowmore 17 and Ardbeg 10, with Lagavulin 16 running a close 2nd. I've got a list of whiskies to buy when my next Social Security check comes in. ;~)

Slainte!

[snip]

There are eight distilleries on Islay from which you might find whisky available: Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Port Ellen, Bowmore, Caol Ila, Bruichladdich, and Bunnahabhain. Port Ellen has been closed since the eighties, and partially dismantled. It's whisky is disappearing, but you might find it still on some shelves. (I recently opened an old bottle of Port Ellen - a Signatory '83 at 13 years - that I've been saving for the last few years.) Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain have traditionally produced lightly peated malts more like a Highland whisky than the other Islays, but now at least Bruichladdich is producing some moderately and heavily peated malts.

For Islays that don't mention the distillery by name there are quite a few, and probably quite a few that I don't know about as well. Besides the Ileach, and the Black Bottle that Paul mentioned, there is also a no-name Islay single malt bottled by Signatory as a 5yo that is worth a try. Also Finlaggin, which I haven't seen lately but used to be widely available. Isn't there and Islay Mist? Islay Hallmark? Some are blends and some are no-name singles, but worth investigating... There was an Islay Dew that nosed like a peaty whisky but didn't deliver on the palate and finish...

I'm not an expert, just an enthusiastic amateur, but I can say the list of comparable non-Islays is short. Talisker (which would be an Islay if it came from Islay - does that make sense?), Longrow, and a few rare Broras, Ardmores, and Glen Gariochs are said to be fairly well peated. And there are some malts that were hardly ever heavily peated, but were often noticibly peaty anyway: some Springbanks, Tamdhus, Highland Parks, Ledaigs...

But no other malt does taste like Laphroaig. Or especially, no other malt does taste like Bowmore, which along with Clynelish and a few others, can be incredibly espressive and individual.

Bart

I recently picked up a Finlaggan 40% in Hamburg. It is a seriously dull whisky for an Islay, even though I heard it might be a Lagavulin. I've taken to drinking it on ice, as I do with my Signatory Islay (5yrs).

Wait--TASTE TEST!

Signatory Vintage Islay 5 years: Some nice Lagavulinny (sp?) peat notes on a watery base; a pleasant briny--almost fishy flavor, but I just had Philadephia salmon spread on black bread; it's the watery and flat palate presence that makes it fairly pedestrian, despite the pretty peat notes.

Finlaggan (no age given) 40%: Far more spirity than the Signatory, and the peaty/briny flavor has to fight the raw spiritiness tooth & nail to assert itself--ultimately, it loses; a brash thing, with some teasing leafy/fruitiness in the nose--but it's really not worth the effort to try too hard to savor.

Laphroaig 10 43%: This is the complete ticket--the other two suggest Islay potential, but the Laphroaig does not have to go out of its way; the first sip brings a pleasant maply/smooth woodsiness, but after about three seconds the peat kicks in with an utterly inimitable medicine whallop--like the iodine but a touch of fresh gauze patch as well; the peat is a big full burst but the finish is gentle.

Tasting the Finlaggan AFTER the Laphroaig is like sitting in a church pew--stiff and hard and plain. I have no idea what this whisky is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be an exceedingly young Bunnhabhain.

The Signatory Vintage Islay, on the other hand, still has plenty of distinctive Islay peat, even if it dies on the finish--it's really not a complete, boistrous, and unctious whisky like the Laphroaig--it's back to the ice tray for this one!

In article , you say...

I haven't seen Finlaggin in 2 years, or tasted it in three, but my impression agrees with the "raw spiritiness" description. A hot young whisky; but I always tasted it out as a young Laphroaig - the bottler, of course, is keeping mum about its provenance. Which may in fact have varied from time to time, you never can tell...

I just finished a recent OB 10yo. I enjoyed it quite abit, during a rare overnight snowfall - the first time Austin had seen snow in about

10 years... how appropriate! It seemed to lack some of the old fashioned Laphroaig aggression on the nose and finish, but the palate was itself bursting with good old medicinal Laphroaig flavors. Best OB Laphroaig I've had for quite some time... and still a well behaved whisky!

I find the Lagavulin characteristics recognizable in the Sig. Islay 5. But it's a bold youngster. Short on finesse, and long on belligerent islay character. (The cask strength version is a more interesting creature though still loudly Islay, but is nearly gone locally.) A new? batch of the 5yo at 40% has appeared recently.

In the same series there are now three Campbeltons: an 8yo, a 10yo, and a 5yo. I haven't done a comparison, but I'm intrigued... These were first said to be Glen Scotias, but I'm not sure that they all are Glen Scotias...

Bart

I really do think they thinned out the peat in the 1990's and are cranking it back up.

a 5yo. I haven't done a comparison, but I'm intrigued... These were first said to be Glen Scotias, but I'm not sure that they all are Glen Scotias...

I have a 5-year-old Stills of Scotland Springbank right now that is out of sight. A terrific whisky. I don't dare buy the Signatory Campbeltown, though, because if it is NOT Springbank then it would probably be yawnsville.