Off to the Speyside area

Well, damn you! Have a wonderful time!! Looking forward to yer report!!!

Thank'ee :-)

I'll have to try and make notes as I go. Sadly won't get chance to do the long Balvenie tour but should at least be able to call in at the shop.

Going to (hopefully) meet up with Ian Buxton on one day and see the originals of the two books he's trying to get back into print (link in my sig). Quite looking forward to that. And I'll have to call in at Edradour of course. Mind you, last time I did that I spent rather a lot of money...!

Jim

Well, we're back. I can't give you a comprehensive report yet but suffice it to say we spent an *obscene* amount of cash on Single Malts, coming back with something in the area of 35(!) bottles [0]. Some are duplicates - four of them, for example, are Strathisla 12yo (a light and dangerously drinkable dram) two of them are Lagavulin 12CS (wonderful stuff) and two are Glenlivet Nadura (which _may_ only be available through duty free and the distillery direct). SWMBO describes Nadura as the 'thug' of the Glenlivets, and I can see what she means - it's a cask strength, sweet, in-your-face Glenlivet. Would probably go well with a ginger biscuit or three.

While we were in the Glenlivet shop I also picked up four tasting glasses - they're like the Glencairn glass but about 60% the size and not as solid. Good for setting out a range of wee tasties and quite cheap at 7.50 UK Pounds for four.

Best buy though was a 16yo Laphroaig (Whisky Shop own bottling, limited to just over 600 bottles). This is _fabulous_ stuff, all that's good in a Laphroaig coupled to an intense smokeyness with - I'm serious - some strong cigar tabacco overtones. It's almost as though someone dropped an expensive cigar into the cask a couple of months before bottling. Utterly, utterly wonderful and I really wish I'd bought two of them. I know the shop _had_ at least two but at 55quid it was too expensive to risk getting two of what might have been a duff bottling.

Most disappointing buy: Benromach 22yo Port Wood. It's not a bad whisky but I think I'm starting to question whether or not I actually like port finished whiskies in general. I remain a fan of Edradour's cask strength port finish (sorry Jim McEwan, I just like the word 'finish') but the Benromach tasted similar to Bowmore Dawn and had the same 'soapy' mouth feel that I dislike. Not as good as the Balvenie 21yo Port Wood that I also bought (and liked, mostly).

I'll write up a list of exactly what we got as soon as we get around to it - we should have noted them down as we got them but you know how it goes..!

Jim [0] SWMBO is (a) better paid than me, and (b) shares my love of SMW. I count myself a very lucky man.

I just picked up a bottle of the Glenlivet Nadura here in the states, FWIW.