The non-controversial Scottish single malt whisky poll

The following guide may be helpful:

Cluster A ( Full-Bodied, Medium-Sweet, Pronounced Sherry with Fruity, Spicy, Malty Notes and Nutty, Smoky Hints): Balmenach, Dailuaine, Dalmore, Glendronach, Macallan, Mortlach, Royal Lochnagar;

Cluster B ( Medium-Bodied, Medium-Sweet, with Nutty, Malty, Floral, Honey and Fruity Notes): Aberfeldy, Aberlour, Ben Nevis, Benrinnes, Benromach, Blair Athol, Cragganmore, Edradour, Glenfarclas, Glenturret, Knockando, Longmorn, Scapa, Strathisla;

Cluster C (Medium-Bodied, Medium-Sweet, with Fruity, Floral, Honey, Malty Notes and Spicy Hints ): Balvenie, Benriach, Dalwhinnie, Glendullan, Glen Elgin, Glenlivet, Glen Ord, Linkwood, Royal Brackla;

Cluster D (Light, Medium-Sweet, Low or No Peat, with Fruity, Floral, Malty Notes and Nutty Hints ): An Cnoc, Auchentoshan, Aultmore, Cardhu, Glengoyne, Glen Grant, Mannochmore, Speyside, Tamdhu, Tobermory;

Cluster E (Light, Medium-Sweet, Low Peat, with Floral, Malty Notes and Fruity, Spicy, Honey Hints ): Bladnoch, Bunnahabhain, Glenallachie, Glenkinchie, Glenlossie, Glen Moray, Inchgower, Inchmurrin, Tomintoul;

Cluster F (Medium-Bodied, Medium-Sweet, Low Peat, Malty Notes and Sherry, Honey, Spicy Hints ): Ardmore, Auchroisk, Bushmills, Deanston, Glen Deveron, Glen Keith, Glenrothes, Old Fettercairn, Tomatin, Tormore, Tullibardine;

Cluster G (Medium-Bodied, Sweet, Low Peat and Floral Notes ): Arran, Dufftown, Glenfiddich, Glen Spey, Miltonduff, Speyburn;

Cluster H (Medium-Bodied, Medium-Sweet, with Smoky, Fruity, Spicy Notes and Floral, Nutty Hints ): Balblair, Craigellachie, Glen Garioch, Glenmorangie, Oban, Old Pulteney, Strathmill, Tamnavulin, Teaninch;

Cluster I (Medium-Light, Dry, with Smoky, Spicy, Honey Notes and Nutty, Floral Hints): Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Glen Scotia, Highland Park, Isle of Jura, Springbank;

Cluster J (Full-Bodied, Dry, Pungent, Peaty and Medicinal, with Spicy, Feinty Notes): Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Clynelish, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Talisker.

(Whisky Classified: Choosing Single Malts by Flavour, David Wishart, Pavilion Books, London 2002.)

Balvenie, because I am gurl.

Wait, you have Aberlour, Balvenie, Glen Grant etc. *and* Speyside?

Lemons
Limes
Oranges
Citrus fruits

You don't know how disappointed I am, Ledge.

"non controversial" was asking for trouble obv. I didn't do the classificationising, blame these guys.

Laphroaig - cask strength!

That's a lot o' whisky

I can hear my dad reading down this list going, "Got it. Got it. Had it, not bad. Got it. Meh. Got it. Got it..."

He's awesome.

Is he still standing tho?

no I think Clegg's got it wrapped up

He's got gallons of booze at home, but most of it will still be there in a year. He knows how to have a good time, and I've never seen him beyond thoroughly buzzed.

Aberlour because I don't like to drink fishy dirt.

Talisker, Laphroaig: Good for cleaning up kitchen spills. Not much else.

Once I started drinking Laphroaig I really couldn't drink any other. Everything else was just too...er...sweet I think. Alright in ginger ale or wine but I like mine neat (unless it is cask strength then it really does need some water) and peaty.

Laphroaig is great. It's like drinking a campfire.

I occasionally like the smoky Lagavulin, but otherwise Oban.

Why is Bushmills on here? it's Irish

I take it back, it's not in the poll, but in the descriptions.

Laphroaig for me please.

Impossible to pick favorites, but I voted Clynelish -- I love those feinty notes!

Bushmills is one of the few I've tried! haha. I want all these scotches.

Talisker is one of the few things I will actually buy that isn't rail in a bar. I love it v v much.

I'm pretty ignorant of all this whiskies, but I've had and loved Lagavulin. It's not available in MS or TN, and I balk at the $70 price tag when I see it in Arkansas.

I have only had Laphroaig once, and I am almost afraid to have it again, lest it not live up to its phenomenally great first impression.

It remains awesomely consistent, Chris :)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

It's all about the Laphroaig.

Laphroaig is great. It's like drinking a campfire.
^^ this

There was that time I was drinking London Pride (bitter) and following every drink with a sip of Laphroaig, and I swear the effect was to make the Laphroaig much sweeter and nuttier. I still have yet to set aside the time to scrutinise this phenomenon more rigorously.

I like talisker

laphroaig, but i can feel the ghosts of my family (speysiders) coming to drop ice cubes down my back.

(by which i mean: they were speysiders who worked in the distilleries [1] not just that they'd have voted for glenlivet etc on this poll.)

[1] and were largely alcoholics.

In enjoyed a good few nips of Isle of Jura the other week but I can't see past Laphroaig, which looks like being a runaway winner.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

yay 4 tha peat

predictable, really.

Predictable but correct. I am pouring out one now in celebration.

curses, I missed this. Lagavulin all the way (not that i don't fucking love laphroaig)

Matt D, if you are reading this, save some Laphroaig for the next time I am in town so I can see what the big deal is.

urgh, Laphroaig is so damn peaty

i was robbed!!!

for real. Any cabinet that'd favor Laphroig over Macallan isn't worth opening.

I wonder who else voted for Aberlour.

(Caol Ila)

I would like to try St. George
http://www.stgeorgespirits.com/

what happened to the results?!

Laphroaig quarter cask is blowing my mind and is going to get me through submitting my dissertation.

thank you duty free for the relatively cheap bottle of Talisker

I can't remember why this poll was controversial. But I just had some Cragganmore, which was pleasingly nutty and sweet, as the tasting notes suggest. And threw into even sharper relief the Laphroaig that followed.

When I want something a bit cheaper i'm down with the Aberlour 10(i think?) year.

Early days but I think both Ardbeg & Lagavulin beat out Laphroaig (for me). Laphroaig is great and has such a ridiculous kick & potency, but I think that there might be an added refinement to be found elsewhere...

I guess that many types will have been scuppered in this poll by being just that bit pricier & harder to get hold of, so couldn't compete.

i don't like laphroaig. there's a bunch of really expensive ones i haven't tried.

I've never liked Laphroaig and always seen it is a poser's whisky - its taste just blares out at you. I would still go for the Macallan 18 above anything else. I do like some of the others, particularly Lagavulin (and yes Ardberg), but there's something delightful about the simplicity of the Macallan. Even when I've been lucky to have v expensive whiskies, they've tasted amazing, but I'm not sure I always want that necessarily.

I should hopefully get a bottle of The Macallan 10 Year Old later this week, if all goes to plan.

I went for the standard version rather than the Fine Oak.

americans u r savages

nb american whisky is great, especially at lower/mid prices but srsly this fucking poll

that was meant to be for the *other* whisky poll, jesus how many of these are you going to bump

Um, two.

was recently introduced to Caol Ila, poss my new fave single malt

My friend had a bottle of Caol Ila and it was trying that that I think really started me on the single malts. It was lovely. I can't remember which expression now. I've only tried Caol Ila once more since, but it still tasted great. It's (one of many) on my agenda.

Mortlach is good! Deserves a vote

after a visit to an exceptionally hospitable scottish household I have expanded my oeuvre & discovered that my two favourite whiskies (thus far) belong to cluster J (Lagavulin, which got me into whisky in the first place, and Talisker, which I had last night, and which I adored).

I also liked An Cnoc, and the Highland Park was nice, but Talisker is serious, serious stuff. felt incredibly balanced & sophisticated for something so peaty and strong

might invest in some cluster J shit

next one to try is ardbeg

caol ila has less phenols but im not a huge fan, its an unusual and distinctive whisky though (almost everything they produce is sold for blending afaik)

clynelish is the only one under j i haven't tried

ledaig?

laphroaig is amazing but i only need a thimbleful or so once a year to sort me out. it's what i order when i go to the fancy whisky bar downtown.

i just bought some of the 12-year balvenie; it seems like a nice thing to have around in the autumn and i suspect i'll be returning to it a fair amount.

for real. Any cabinet that'd favor Laphroig over Macallan isn't worth opening.

― J0hn D., Monday, December 31, 2007 1:55 PM (6 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol shots fired

the macallan is wonderful too, but i'm a "here we are now, entertain us" dumm american and i want my big peaty show.

my project of understanding scotch will continue for years and years is all i can say

i think i'd enjoy any of the cluster H or I entries (glenmorangie is probably the most commercially accessible to americans and apparently has some fans on this thread).

highland park has been pretty great in small samples, right balance of big flavors and being actually pleasant to drink

yh i undersold highland park upthread, it rly was hi quality

laphroaig is, i discovered by drinking both from a tumbler in each hand, a smoother ride than talisker - the latter really is peat in excelsis

talisker is less heavily peated than laphroaig although its bottled at higher abv which makes it harsher in some respects

http://whiskyforeveryone.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/explain-about-peat.html

has anyone had talisker storm? considering buying some while i can get it cheap

highland park is awesome

hmm I might have some whisky now

drinking a Balvenie

so talisker storm is fairly similar to the 10 yr old

the spiel says it is sweeter and slightly more intense which is probably correct

theres some degree of suspicion about no age statement scotches, the trend probably reflecting increase in demand and the need to sell off younger whiskies, although blends of different ages are normal in cognac

so the storm us no age stmt and looks like even on sale it would be about $10 more than the ten year? that would be a tough sell for me.

yeah its not worth that at all, although i paid....$37 a bottle...so for that its fine

good article here about the 10 yr

http://thekrav.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/taliskravaganza-day-1-talisker-10-year.html

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/271771254022

the other week i had some of that yamizaki 12 that you will have raved about and whilst i thought it was rather good it's not remotely worth the money, not that much whisky is (although falling scotch exports and lowered excise should help)

talisker seem to have a new entrylev no age statement whisky, fittingly most of these involve seem to involve scraping barrels to impart oak phenols more quickly

this was a reply to deems in the other thread that for some reason i posted here, hopefully the irish is able to follow anyway

If whiskey (of any sort) is a solvent to extract hardwood phenols, why haven't any enterprising producers used sawdust and milling waste for faster aging. Granted, it sounds cheap, but surely we can do better in the 21st century. We have the technology.

ardmore legacy is a worthy entrant in the scraping-the-barrel no-age statement peated scotch category, better than laphroaig select and well worth £16 and maybe a bit more than that

if I misremember the yamizaki I dont regret it a bit, some of my fondest memories were fixed in post

xp to sanpaku that presumably already happens in whisky since it happens in wine
http://winefolly.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/oak-chips-in-wine-stephen_bolen.jpg
difficult to imagine at least some whisky isnt adulterated
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/04/world/bordeaux-winemaker-is-charged-with-fraud-over-contents-of-its-products.html

Old Pulteney is a toothsome delight!

Suntory Yamazaki 12-year is my preferred single-malt, plus it's cheaper than most actual Scotches.

otm you will have noted my telling for it itt and others

Old Pulteney is a toothsome delight!

― Yul Brynner playing table tennis with a deviled kidney (imago), Friday, August 28, 2015 9:44 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ah but then you crack out the Lagavulin afterwards and it's dismissed into memory as the pleasant distraction it always was

better than that, really, but not Lagavulin

Would like to rep for 18 yr glendronach

Would like a chance to.

It's a rich comforter, for sure

I was gifted a bottle 2 years ago and it lasted me well

Had some Ardbeg Corryvreckan over Christmas and that was quite a ride.

xp hey all those best man gigs have to have some benefit, right?

today i bought longrow peated nas b/c when i looked up tasting notes i was told it smells like a harbourmaster's jacket. it's pretty good!

Was on islay. Got a wee bottle of an oa at the ardbeg distillery.Enjoying it

Laphroaig is great. It's like drinking a campfire.

― Matt D, Thursday, 1 November 2007 19:12 (eleven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

spelled 'camphor' fyi

nakh otm re laphroaig, which dials peat to eleven without much care for the balance for my taste

pitting the peaty/non peaty in the one poll prob doesnt serve much purpose, of all above im gonna have glenmorangie, glenlivet on the shelf but tbrr theyre as well to be categorised as irish single pot still as they are to be included in this grouping (i mean, bushmills is up there an all)

laphroaig tastes like tcp

yep, like a chemist's foot

I don't like the regular Laphroaig much at all, I'm not really into peaty whisky, although I don't mind Talisker, but I lucked into going to a whisky-tasting evening a few years ago (my friend had bought tickets to go with his wife, but she couldn't go for some reason) and tried a 25 year old Laphroaig and it was really nice, nowhere near as over the top as the normal one (12?). Just also ludicrously expensive, normally. But I will drink it for free quite happily.

I’m surprised Bruichladdich only got one vote.

No ice. No stirrer. No glass. We're redefining how whisky can be enjoyed. Introducing The Glenlivet Capsule Collection #noglassrequired pic.twitter.com/F4MGErsfZM

— The Glenlivet (@TheGlenlivet) October 2, 2019

aye you can fuck right off with that shite

I’m surprised Bruichladdich only got one vote.

― El Tomboto, Saturday, October 5, 2019 11:57 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

he'll continue straggling behind Harris until he can make inroads with black voters

I would've voted for Springbank.

Those scotch pods seem like a weird size.

Why is Bushmills on here? it's Irish

― Bill Magill, Thursday, 1 November 2007 19:22 (eleven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Bill Magill otm

no votes but. giruy

On the shelf right now: Bowmore 15, The Macallan 12, Bruichladdich Islay Barley, Highland Park 12

Tasted in the past (meaning, I drank a bottle of): Cragganmore, Aberlour, Bunnahabhain, Glenfiddich, Dalmore, Suntory Yamazaki, Lagavulin, Balvenie.

Getting a new appreciation for peaty whiskys through the Lagavulin 18 rekindled my interest for Scotch whiskies and now I have to stop myself from ordering too many so that I keep the appreciation for each... uh, expression is the term I believe. Ultimate drink for late nights at home, often alone, as the counterpart to red wine which is shared / social. I used to steal my father's bottles, then I started buying them myself for Christmas, now I'm breaking that ritual by buying whenever. Laphroaig / Talisker / Oban definitely on the wishlist when the time comes.

And to go with this revive, Richard Paterson from Dalmore explains it best:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVG1U-faqHY

ill run through the shelf later but i bought the gimmick at the obam dostillery and poured my own bottle from the cask based on a sample of what they had, and i think we picked up another decent 12 yr old from one of the names when there

ive been sampling and enjoying a fair few bottles from various new irish labels which im glad to report have been far more hit than miss

dalwhinnie 15 year fruity and quite sweet and high on the nose

abelour 12 single malt, very lovely rich effort

oban 11 year as above, spicier than the others

none peaty because peatiness above say a glenfiddich 12 is a gimmich

ill run through the irish bottles in a more appropriate thread sometime

Bruichladdich Islay Barley

is this the one in the goofy teal bottle?

I just bought a bottle of Laphroaig at Costco, but I have this $20 Trader Joe's mystery malt called 'Finlaggan' that's really good.. it's Islay, but nobody knows who distills & ages it. Some folks think it's Caol Ila or maybe a young Bowmore. Either way it's nice on a cold, wet day when you get in from a walk

I love Laphroaig but would happily agree it's not really the "correct" answer

Couldn't pick a favourite beyond that tho, not familiar enough maybe. Tamnavulin and Yamazaki 10 definitely on my "will always want" list

Check out some Campbeltown stuff like Glen Scotia and Springbank. Latter incorporates some nice balanced peat to the malt but it's no bomb like the Islay stuff.

Also for Speyside loveliness don't overlook GlenAllachie which was recently taken over by Billy Walker who revived Glendronach (who's juice has taken a step back since left, unfortunately)

I went on a tour of Highland Park (maybe my overall favorite) and I asked the tour guide 'Is that a pile of peat? or Coal.. because it looks like coal.' He looked around to make sure no one else was listening and then confirmed that it was coal from Poland

My father used to collect whisky bottles. Bought from his British colleagues whenever they were doing the trip. He was never a whisky drinker though. So here I am with one more bottle - an old edition of a 10Y Glenkinchie and I'm not unhappy to have a liter of the thing - on the sweet honey side but with a good profile.

Bruichladdich Islay Barley

is this the one in the goofy teal bottle?

― Andy the Grasshopper, mardi 25 février 2025 17:53 (four months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yes. My concern with this whiskey is the alcohol rate (50°). I'm not used to add water.

ive two peaty lads to buy bottles of something nice for

aside from what's here already, whats good atm?

The newest distillery on Islay, Ardnahoe, put out their inaugural release last year and it’s definitely worth trying. Only 5yo but is richer than you’d expect and interesting to taste before they start putting out more aged bottlings in future.

I really had a thing for Bruichladdich Classic Laddie, in the teal bottle for a few years there, but the last bottle I got just doesnt hit the same way. Its missing that saline note that made it intriguing.

ty ty

Not an expert but I had that Classic Laddie at a restaurant a month or so ago and decided to buy a bottle, really liked it.

last month I bought a bottle of peated Loch Lomond at the government monopoly store in sweden.. it was good! Great campfire whisky on the camping leg of the trip. (Also, Captain Haddocks favorite dram if your lads are Tintin fans)

But I've never seen it before or since, so maybe it's a special product just for that distributor?

Scanned the list and saw Cthulu and remembered whisky can never be for me regardless whatever my people said

I was at a lowland whisky tasting last night, the bonnington "peated muscat" was indeed very peaty and tasted amazing coming off the back of three other lighter whiskies. I think it's a limited edition though.

ended up picking up a kilchoman batch strength on recommendation from the shop, interested to see how it hits

I love Lagavulin for some reason. I rarely drink alcohol anymore but try to always have a bottle of that in my cabinet for when I do get a taste for it. Would have voted for that.