Never before have so few, tasted so much, for so many!
Great whisky review by Level 3 Whisky Sommelier Daniel and Master Whisky Mooch Rex from the Whisk(e)y Vault. ‘Top Five Whiskies For Advanced Whisky Drinkers’ is the sort of whiskies that you can draw a lot of complexity and nuance out of. There is also guest apearance from The Modern Rogue’s very own Brian Brushwood.
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Enjoy!
Rex: “So, I get the brine note. I get roses behind the salt water. That was more oily and sirupy then I was expecting. The notes that I’m getting, yeah, I’m a bit surprised that it’s as sweet and fruity as it’s right now.”
Daniel: “For us this is always the slightly orange, slightly salty, slightly brine, which is salt, with the… earth-ish.”
Brian: “Ooh, that’s good…”
Rex: “If it’s not smoke that gives you that smokey note, then what is it? If I have to force myself not to think about smoke, then I get heavy saltwater. You would swear it was smokey if it didn’t say you know; un-peated on the label and it does have a lot of complexity in there, you got the saltwater.”
Daniel: “There is no smoke in this whisky.
Brian: “I liked the fact that you mentioned heavy mineral water because it is almost as a freshwater pond.”
Daniel: “What I get from the smoke in the Lagavulin, instead of this dense, heavy oil of a smoke, to me, the Lagavulin is a lighter smoke, it sort of sparkles like carbonation and then there is a little bit of savoury note in there, but at the very end it lift off as mint. Does not taste mint but has a minty finish.”
Brian: “Not so much like grass but weeds. I picture weeds and daisies, just grabbing it and putting it up to my nose. There’s sort of an up-beat sunshine to it.”
Rex: “For me the very first note is a lightly smoked ham and every subsequent sip after that the ham is gone. And then you are left with the brine and the sweetness and I do get that minty flourish on the end. “
Daniel: “20 is sweeter on the nose (then the Quarter Cask. To me the 10 is sort of a one note thing. It’s not as dense as the Ardbeg, but it sort of does one thing bit the finish changes. So when you take a sip, it’s just one note, then after you swallowed all the smoke is gone and the lingering aftertaste shows all these things that where hidden.”
Brian: “Holy cow, that 10 is an intense burn. The 10 is much smooth (then the Quarter Cask).”
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Daniel: “I can smell more density in the Quarter. Quarter Cask is kinda hitting you with a leather strap.”
Rex: “Oh yeah, it just became that king of chance.”
Brian: “It’s the atomic fireball of Laphroaig.”
Brian: “Man, this seems ah.. candy. Smells sweet to me. Would it be wrong to say burden maple? It’s so sweet on the taste, it’s like candy”
Rex: “I get some red apple and… that saltiness that I get in almost basically every Islay. This is way sweeter on the taste then it should be. Yes, it’s sweeter then you would expect but the smokiness, peatiness is absolute there.”
Daniel: “There is something totally different in this, it’s maple. This is the sweatiness we’ve had today, but it’s also really smoky. Lagavolin feels like a gentleman. This one feels like the guy that takes you to the part of town you are nervous about.”