Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Christmas Scotch

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.