Hear hear!
I just bought my second $30 bottle of the Smokey Peaty One, and am enjoying it about as much as a medium-peat Islay like Laphroaig. Did I mention it was only thirty bucks?
If they exit the US market, I will quite literally be poorer for it.
What should Ben do? We don't want him taking food from Princess J's mouth to blow it on expensive liquor, but we don't want him drinking dreck, either. Obviously, he should buy as much of JMR's The Smokey Peaty One as he can find, but there are other options for peaty whiskies in the same general price range. Let's first examine what's in The Smokey Peaty One (according to Dave Robertson's e-mail to Kevin Erskine of the Scotch Blog):
- Caol Ila 5% refill casks - ex American oak bourbon barrels
- Laphroaig 12% refill casks - ex American oak bourbon barrels\
- Bunnahabhain 17% American oak sherry
- Bunnahabhain 9% refill casks - ex American oak bourbon barrels
- Highland Park 26% Spanish Oak Sherry butts
- Highland Park 14% American oak hogsheads
- Ledaig 9% refill casks - ex American oak bourbon barrels
- Bowmore 8% refill casks - ex American oak bourbon barrels
Caol Ila currently runs around $50 a fifth for the 12 year old, which is the youngest version generally available. Laphroaig 10 is maybe $40 a fifth. Bunnahabhain is famous for being unpeated, despite its Islay location. Ledaig is the peated malt produced at the Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull; it's not easily-found, and in any case, it's not cheap. That leaves Highland Park and Bowmore. Both have potential. Bowmore Legend is around 8 years old, and peatiness decreases with age. It might be worth a try at around $22 a fifth. Highland Park is peated, although it does have lower peat levels than big boys like Laphroaig and Ardbeg. Still, it is one of the best whiskies in existence, and the 12 year old version retails for maybe $32 a fifth. Other possibilities include Dalmore's Cigar Malt, at $32 a fifth; and Isle of Jura Superstition, at around $35 a fifth. I'm not much of a fan of either one, but Ben might like them.
3 comments:
I tried Bowmore Legend tonight, and am fairly pleased. It's got enough peat to have been worth the money for my purposes, though I think that The Smokey, Peaty One probably has a higher peat-per-dollar ratio.
Thanks for the recommendation. Any thoughts on Bruichladdaigh 3D-2 at $48?
I would bet that Bruichladdich 3D-2 is an excellent malt. The first edition of 3D was made from malts that were 5, 25, and 40 ppm phenolics(Laphroaig is 40-45 ppm). The information sheet for 3D second edition doesn't say what the peat levels are for its components, but it does say that it's peatier than the first edition. Does that mean that it includes some of the Port Charlotte (80 ppm)? I don't know. But it almost certainly is interesting, and it almost certainly is good. Tell you what, Ben: if you buy it and don't like it, I'll take the rest of it off your hands.
I've just bought a bottle of Black Bottle and find that while it's still acceptably peaty, it's not that different from Bowmore. Probably worth the extra $5 for a bottle of Laphroiag, and certainly no competition with The Smokey Peaty One.
One caveat: I have yet to do a serious side-by-side taste test.
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