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Single Malt Scotch!

#3,005
TomB said:
I need to try Glenfiddich 14. I like the 12, but somehow didn't expect the 14 to be much different. Is that not so?
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The only Glenfiddich that I've personally liked, even over the 18, was the 15, but not enough to buy again. Then when I saw the 14 a couple years ago I bought one just for the heck of it and have kept a bottle on hand ever since. I probably buy a bottle of it every half year or so and I guess all I could say is that it doesn't cost very much, which makes it a lot safer experiment than many of the Balvenie offerings would.
 
#3,006
Ah, thanks! Out of curiosity (and because it's on sale) I picked up a bottle of Glenfiddich 14. VERY different from the 12 yo, not even noticeably a Speyside malt, vs the 12. If anything, it's similar (IMO) to other charred bourbon-barrel finished products such as Jameson Black Barrel Irish (gasp). But it maintains the deep Scotch character (vs. Irish) and all-in-all is a very rich and worthy dram. I'm putting it aside for winter!
Love Balvenie double-wood but haven't sprung for the 15 yet.
 
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#3,007
TomB said:
Ah, thanks! Out of curiosity (and because it's on sale) I picked up a bottle of Glenfiddich 14. VERY different from the 12 yo, not even noticeably a Speyside malt, vs the 12. If anything, it's similar (IMO) to other charred bourbon-barrel finished products such as Jameson Black Barrel Irish (gasp). But it maintains the deep Scotch character (vs. Irish) and all-in-all is a very rich and worthy dram. I'm putting it aside for winter!
Love Balvenie double-wood but haven't sprung for the 15 yet.
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Yeah I would compare it to an American Single Malt over other Speysides,
 
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#3,008
Just opened this bottle last night and am already planning on buying a couple more just in case they discontinue it!
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#3,012
IconBasser said:
that looks mighty interesting!

How does it stack up to the others?
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dmccombe7 said:
Not seen that one before. Looks interesting and curious to know more about it. Keep us posted
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ahc said:
I'd like to know how it compares to Ardbeg 10 which I like very much.
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I'll just address these all at once and say that I don't even buy Ardbeg 10 anymore, even though I really like it, because I've been just having the Corryvreckan and Ardbog on hand, but now I can say I'll be adding the Kelpie for as long as it's available.

For anyone wondering about the 10 comparison, Kelpie and Corryvreckan are definitely more money, but for me, absolutely worth it. I'll be buying 10 again in the future, but for now my attention is elsewhere.
 
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#3,014
It's very interesting to see that no one ever mentions the "Year".
Personally I find that even the same Whisky, but from a different year does have a slightly different taste to it.
So much so, that when I come across a (for me) particularly nice Vintage of one of my favorite brands, I go back and purchase more than one before they finish :)
 
#3,015
Reno M said:
It's very interesting to see that no one ever mentions the "Year".
Personally I find that even the same Whisky, but from a different year does have a slightly different taste to it.
So much so, that when I come across a (for me) particularly nice Vintage of one of my favorite brands, I go back and purchase more than one before they finish :)
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A single malt (unless labeled single barrel) will usually be a blend of several barrels and ages of whisky from the same distillery, hence the variation you can find across a range of years. I suspect the majority of palates aren't that sensitive to the differences (I know mine usually isn't!). The goal of a whisky blender is to keep consistency of flavor, color, etc.

As you'll know once whisky is in the bottle it doesn't age so that's the main reason for not adding a production year unlike wine. The age of the whisky is set by the youngest whisky in that mix, so it's not uncommon in some of smaller distilleries to have older whisky in the bottle. At one point due to production changes, on of my favorite whiskies was closer to 21 year old than the 12 year old on the bottle!
 
#3,016
TomB said:
How does Kelpie compare with Corryvreckan (which we discussed recently)?
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More refreshing? Neither can replace the other for me and having run out of Corryvreckan I'm going to need to pick one up so I can do a bit of side by side comparison, but unlike the Uigeadail, which I loved, but got kicked out once the Corryvreckan showed up, the 10, Corryvreckan and Kelpie are all irreplaceable for me.

Like most of the rest of the Islays that I like, the Kelpie is wonderful just to sit and sniff for much longer than I can do with pretty much anything non-Islay. Whatever it is that it does to the senses, the heavier Islay aromas are actually enough to satisfy, while others tend to make me want to take a sip. I may end up deciding that I far prefer the Corryvreckan, but with there being so much difference between them, I'm expecting them to be shelf-mates for the foreseeable future.
 
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