Laphroaig

"no bias" is impossible, since there are so few Islay whiskies available, and even a modest enthusiast as I can tell the difference between the distillers. Or, if the judges are inexperienced to the point that they cannot tell, then ...

John

Erm...the competition includes many many more whiskies than only the Islay marks.

cheers,

Henry

Erm...The OP (now erased) suggested that Laphroig swept all categories in a recent "blind" contest. My response was that this is not impressive, because anyone with vague knowledge of scotch would be able to tell Laphroig apart from other Islays without seeing the labels--the notion of blindness, then, is a misnomer. Obviously the judges could also tell Laphroaig apart from non-Islays. My criticism questioned the authenticity of the "blind" aspect of judging, implying bias on the part of the judges. Your response neither refutes nor addresses that critique.

Well you could go to the site and see if you think the tasting was done with fairness or not. They have a contact address for any questions you might have. :)

Lew/+Silat

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag carrying the Cross" Sinclair Lewis

However, it seems like every whisky had it's "shot" based on the number of entries. Here are all the scotch double golds:

Balblair 16 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Highland, Scotland, 43%, $49, Barton Imports - Chicago, IL,

Caol Ila 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Islay, Scotland, 43%, $45, Diageo North America - Norwalk, CT,

Caol Ila 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Islay, Scotland, 43%, $60, Diageo North America - Norwalk, CT,

Caol Ila 25 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Islay, Scotland, 58.4%, $200, Diageo North America - Norwalk, CT,

Chivas Regal Gold Signature Scotch, Speyside, Scotland, 40%, $65, Pernod Ricard - White Plains, NY,

Chivas Regal Royal Salute Scotch, Speyside, Scotland, 40%, $170, Pernod Ricard - White Plains, NY,

Clynelish 14 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Highlands, Scotland, 46%, $45, Diageo North America - Norwalk, CT,

Cragganmore 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Speyside, Scotland, 40%, $45, Diageo North America - Norwalk, CT,

Cragganmore Distillers Edition Single Malt Scotch, 1992, Speyside, Scotland,

Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition Single Malt Scotch, 1990, Highlands, Scotland,

Glen Ord 30 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Highlands, Scotland, 58.7%, $300, Diageo North America - Norwalk, CT,

Glenfiddich 18 Year Old Ancient Reserve, Banffshire, Scotland, 43%, $64, Wm. Grant & Sons - Edison, NJ,

Glenmorangie 18 Year Old Rare Malt Scotch, Highlands, Scotland, 43%, $100, Moât Hennessy USA - NY, NY,

King's Crest 25 Year Old Scotch, Scotland, 40%, $250, Speyside Importing Co. - Duxbury, MA,

Lagavulin 16 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Islay, Scotland, 43%, $70, Diageo North America - Norwalk, CT,

Laphroaig 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Islay, Scotland, 40%, $50, Beam Global - Deerfield, IL,

Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch, Islay, Scotland,

Laphroaig 10 Year Old Quarter Cask Single Malt Scotch, Islay, Scotland, 48%, $49, Beam Global - Deerfield, IL,

Laphroaig 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Islay, Scotland, 43%, $64, Beam Global - Deerfield, IL,

Old Pulteney 17 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Highlands, Scotland, 46%, $59, Barton Imports - Chicago, IL,

Old Pulteney 21 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Highlands, Scotland, 46%, $89, Barton Imports - Chicago, IL,

Talisker 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Isle of Skye, Scotland, 45.8%, $60, Diageo North America - Norwalk, CT,

Talisker 175th Anniversary Scotch, Isle of Skye, Scotland, 45.8%, $100, Diageo North America - Norwalk, CT,

The Glenlivet 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch, Speyside, Scotland, 43%, $65, Pernod Ricard - White Plains, NY,

From

Marcus

I don't doubt that the judges liked Laphroaig better than the other entries. I doubt the (1) the implications of the contest being touted as "blind" and (2) the possibility of any objective whisky tasting contest with qualified judges at all.

Here's why. A whisky tasting contest is a matter of aesthetics--"which tastes better/best?" is fundamentally a question of axiology, of value. Aesthetic frameworks can be culturally located--to speak of aesthetics as personal makes no sense; the discussion is dependent upon trends and agreement. Aesthetic frameworks consist of both notable patterns that are relative to the culture groups from which those patterns emerge, and differences within those patterns (differences are the primary concern). The differences are ultimately decided by subjective matters, or else they are random. When judgment on something is unanimous (e.g., water tastes better than poop), then two possibilities exist: one is that no real judgment has been made, because it is matter of actual truth, and therefore not an aesthetic concern; the other possibility is that the judgment is subjective, but within a context that the constructed discourse functions in a way such that all people (within the control group) agree on the particular matter. Which of these it is debatable, the debate between Enlightenment tradition and postmodern thinking, and it carries ontological implications. But this problem is not applicable to the matter at hand, unless we can all agree that Laphroaig is the best whisky, hands down, regarding a particular set of criteria. If we do, then we must agree that Laphroaig is king or that the criteria are bunk. At least one of these is the case, since we don't all agree that Laphroaig is the best whisky. Therefore...

Declaring Laphroaig the "winner" of a scotch tasting contenst is a case in point or aesthetic theory on a basic level: if (a) the judges did not know it was Laphroaig, then how could they possibly be qualified to judge scotch; if (b) the judges *did* know it was Laphroaig, then it hardly matters whether or not the drams were labeled.

Now, we can probably all agree that I should shut up! ;-) I will, but first I'm going to have a dram of Laphroaig CS

John