It was a good evening. Merry Christmas to all.

Man I really wish I could drink it but......just too much of a bourbon man.

Congrats to your Broncos Denny! Should be good for recruiting.
Merry Christmas!!

Thank you, David. Football season goes too quickly. Merry Christmas to you. Give your sister a hug for me.

Nice!

I was in the liquor store next to Costco yesterday, and they had one that interested me but didn't buy it - Balvenie 14yr Old Carribean Cask, aged 14yrs in oak casks then finished in Rum casks, https://us.thebalvenie.com/our-range/caribbean-cask-aged-14-years .

I'm gonna make one up now, thanks for the inspiration.

The Glenlivet looks nice. Lagavulin is not my style, definitely an aquired taste which I have yet to aquire. Nonetheless, looks like a good Christmas for you!

Definitely a good evening with some nice 16 year olds.

I bought a bottle of Colonel E.H. Taylor Small Batch bourbon for the Christmas festivities. It's okay so far but I seem to like Bulleit better tho I admit to not really being a bourbon guy.

Haha, yeah, doubletap, you might be on some watchlists now...

Nice, I have a small slug of Glenmorangie in my coffee as I'm typing this, Merry Christmas!

Yum!

I like the Lagavulin,too.

Yeah, kinda regretting not grabbing it - may have to sneak back in there tomorrow...

TX : But The Balvenie is my favorite!

That stuff is just flat out GOOD!

Bob - you mean the Carribean Cask? or the regular Balvenie?

I'm a big fan of the Balvenie DoubleWood 12 year. I haven't see the Balvenie Caribean Cask around here. I guess I'll have to look harder.

I also enjoy Islay Scotch such as the Ardbeg in the OP.

I almost forgot - Merry Christmas!!

TX: I like and mostly buy the Doublewood, like DaveS said.

But the Caribbean sounds yummy. I will look around for some this weekend....or maybe blow the farm and buy a bottle of the 20+ year old stuff. My son gave me a bottle of that for Christmas a couple years ago....then he and his friends drank it!

I have been a scotch drinker since college and can appreciate those fine sixteen year olds. Not so much a bourbon drinker, spent a deer season in KY bourbon country. Each evening the gang managed to consume a bottle of Woodford Reserve, me not so much I guess like scotch it too is an acquired taste. I'm not quite there yet I'm afraid.

Cool, will have to try both - thanks guys!

I have and like quite a few (Lagavulin included), but stick mostly to Glenlivet 12 and Glenmorangie (10 as well as the Quinta Ruban, La Santa, etc), but don't have any of the Balvenie's.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Anyone tried the Jameson's Caskmates?

Stout casks this year anyway - wondering if it really makes a noticeable difference.

I haven't, but it sounds good. One of my sons bought the other a jug of this:



which was pretty good.

I've had that 18 year old - liked it much.

My nieces got me a bottle of Bulleit 10 year for Christmas which does not suck either.

If you like Lagavulin, do yourself a favor and try Ardbeg Uigedahl.

My favorite Islay.

And I forgot too:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Oh shoot. There it was right in the picture!

Well done. Helluva trifecta!

I was lucky enough to get one of these just recently.

The packaging and bottle are so cool I don't even want to open it.

That's quite the fine selection of malt.

The Lagavulin 16 is just what the doctor ordered on a cold wet winters evening.

Enjoying this fine scotch Christmas evening at the camp.

Where do you rank Laphroaig on your Islay list? It's pretty much at the top of mine.

The two on the outside are favorites of mine, especially the Lagavulin. The Nadurra is a bit on the sweet side for me, but makes for an excellent "dessert" dram..

I had a Southern Tier Choklate beer with dessert tonight. Yummmm!
http://www.stbcbeer.com/black-water/choklat/

Finishing the night with the Balvenie Doublewood before bed. Pretty good Christmas!!!!

Much prefer the peaty ones. Lagavulin, the Ardbegs, sometimes Talisker. Try Kilchoan. It's the newest distillery on Islay, up in the north end. Very peaty. Their idea was that they'd do it all from start to finish, grow their own barley, etc. I think they had to compromise on that but what they are selling now is really Islay. Tends to be less expensive since it's not as well known, yet.
Slainte

Taste is subjective. I like Laphroaig 10 plenty, but I find it pales in comparison to Lagavulin 16.

I like Lagavulin 16 more than plenty, but I find it pales in comparison to Ardbeg Uigedahl.

That being said, all three are in stock here.

I do like the peat. Octomore is worth a try if you run across some.

I lean just a bit more toward Ardbeg than Laphroaig, but can be plenty happy with either. Ardbeg 10 was the first to really catch my attention. It would be fun to take a long tour of Islay.

Laphroaig is WAY too "peaty" or "smokey" for me, and that's coming from someone that likes the peat.

I have had Lagavulin before, but honestly don't recall exactly where it stood if we are ranking things.

As for the scotches I prefer, I find that the McCallan 18 is pretty damn good, but too pricey for normal drinking.

If you want a killer Islay scotch at a good price, try either the 12 or 18 year old Bunnahabhain. Both are simply wonderful. The 12 is about $60/bottle, and the 18 about $120/bottle. For anyone who went on the original Caryonah pig hunt, they may recall I brought a bottle of the Bunnahabhain 18 with me, and it got the attention of all the scotch drinkers, and even a good many of the bourbon drinkers that "hate scotch". It IS that good.

If you move to something a little less peaty, The Balvenie makes some wonderful scotches as well. Even though it's a mere 12 year old, the Balvenie Doublewood is worth more than a try, especially at $60/bottle.

Of course, we're talking about single malts here, because as far as I'm concerned, blends are not worth discussing, much less drinking.

For simple, everyday drinking on a normal budget, the Glenlivit 12 is more than ok, and about $38/bottle. It's nothing special, but it's smooth and full flavored enough to satisfy your craving.

To the 3 bottles pictured in the OP, I have only had the Glenlivit 16, and it's wonderful. As mentioned, their 12 is just fine, and they only get better from there.

to me, the scotch game is more about finding the good ones that are priced like the mediocre ones. There are far too many out there that are incredible, but you pay out the arse for them. With quite a few in the $60-$120 bottle range that (to me) compare quite well to the $300 bottle offerings, I'll stick to what I know now ... Though it may be nice to eventually get to where dropping $300 on a bottle of scotch doesn't phase me. But that would mean me making one helluva better living than I currently do LOL.

I had some Jameson 12 with my FIL tonight. It was a bottle someone gave him a few years ago, and he finally opened it. He likes scotch, but isn't all that knowledgeable about scotches, so he had no idea if it was any good or not. We enjoyed it, but it's not one I'd go buy for myself.

Now, the 18 is probably a good bit nicer ... should be more smooth, and richer in flavor. If my imagination of what it would be is correct, you will definitely enjoy that bottle.

So many choices, so little sobriety...

I have to disagree, even though when it comes to scotch I'm primarily a malt drinker.

I would have to agree with mathman...

I did receive this for Christmas but yet to have open it. Looking forward to trying it in the Yeti Lowball.



I like this Balvenie Single Cask a lot as well. Can't seem to find it anymore though.

Why in the world would you put Glenmorangie in a Yeti?

Well, I was given it as a gift by my family along with the bottle of scotch. So I feel obliged to give it a try. Their thought was it would be good to take to camp rather than a red solo cup though I have no idea what SS will do to the taste of good whiskey...

Stainless certainly won't ruin it like ice will.

It will help keep the Fresca cold too.

I happen to like blends as well, especially Johnny Walker 15 year or their Double Black, both of which have a lot of Talisker in the blend, which is my favorite single malt.

My favorite single malt is the Highland Park 18 but I like the 12 as well and it's a better price. The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 is a dandy and I have one of those in the whiskey pantry as well.

Added to my whiskey pantry yesterday are: The Hakushu 12, Green Spot (Irish Whisky) Four Roses Single Barrel, Crown Royal Harvest Rye, and Evan Williams Single Barrel 2006.

It's good to be restocked.

My son and I did a taste test between the Laphroaig 10, Ardbeg 10 and Laphroaig 18. All were good but the Laphroaig 18 came out on top for both of us. I guess I'm going to have to try the Lagavulin and Ardbeg Uigedahl. I see another taste test in the works.

Agreed

Exactly, but the OP has a bottle in his photo.

I was gifted a bottle of the Ardbeg Uigedahl yesterday and three other great single malts!

Man, I love scotch. I am a cheap ass, though, and if I buy expensive stuff, I drink it so fast that I don't really get to enjoy it!!

I usually just buy cheap whiskey, so I can control the cash outlay a bit.

Obviously responded before reading the whole thread...

The Ardbeg U is far superior to their other offerings IMO.

Kinda curious to try the Ardbeg Super Nova. I'm in constant taste test mode.

Glenfarclas Single Malt.....?

I'll sip some but I think it'll make me shudder. Too much Black Velvet as a teenager.

Wow! All these names from the past showing up for Christmas! Way cool!

Merry Christmas Jeff.

Booze draws a crowd.

Thanks byc. Back atcha!

Hey Jeff. Long time no see. Fully recovered yet?