scotch suggestion

A lot of knowledge in the precious post. I had similar misgivings as peterp when I first tried Lagavulin. I didn't necessarily hate it, but did not find it all that enjoyable. I too had a bottle that was staying about 7/8 full. Then I tried Laphroaig 18, and WOW, what a delicious scotch! It still has the peat, but is so smooth and otherwise delicious that I did not find the peat overpowering like I did with the Lagavulin. I can not recommend this one highly enough.

I have kept working at my Lagavulin though, and now find that I enjoy it more as I'm down to about 1/2 the bottle (over maybe a year's time).

 

I find the Speyside single malts are to my taste. I don't like the heavy peat single malts.

 

Glenfiddich Vintage reserve 1976 Cask 516
Really very nice , melange of fruit , great long finish.

 

Bob -- Great info. By the looks of it, you are a walking encyclopedia of Scotch! Do you have any recommendations for an affordable alternative to Glenmorangie Signet? I was blown away when a friend introduced me to it a long time ago, but I forgot the name until I saw Surfwolf's post.

 

You might have enjoyed it even more if you went down to 1/2 a bottle in an evening's time .

The Lagavulin has been sitting untouched for a long time, but I will go back and give it a try. In the past, I've found that some of the things I had a distaste for initially ended up becoming one of my favorites when I keep on trying it. I haven't done that in this case, but will amend my ways to give it a fairer evaluation.

 

Thanks; addicts always enjoy ensnaring others into their passions. I'm glad you enjoy the discussions.

The Signet is a very good to almost great whisky. It is chocolate & malt on the nose and tongue, and has the spiciness (the cinnamon people describe) because part of the batch spends time in virgin oak casks. The taste is chocolate raisins and fruit, with a long fruity finish. It is expensive, but worth it for special occasions if you like it a lot.

I am admittedly too cheap to buy it, but do stock their Quinta Ruban as an alternate (BevMo sells it for $52 US). The QR is aged in port, so it has that nose and flavor, and also a cereal/oak taste with a "thick" fruit finish. It does not, however, have that distinct chocolate note. I also have a bottle of their "Extremely Rare" 18, which is as good as the Signet (and about the same price) but with a very different profile of honey, berries and citrus.

You might enjoy their Lasanta, which follows a part of the Signet's chocolate raisin profile (and sells for $49 US at BevMo). If you really want the Signet, though, it might disappoint just a little. To me, it is still a little too light, and not yet "mature". If you are looking for an alternative to a Macallan 12, though, this is the bottle I'd recommend. Both the QR and Lasanta are pretty affordable, and both worth the price.

If you want to look at other distilleries, I enjoy Aberlour 16, a Speyside malt. It has that "thickness" i feel with Glenmorangie & some similar tastes. It is double-casked in bourbon and sherry casks, and has a great plum & raisin taste and floral notes. It is also one of the prettiest whiskies in the glass (it has a unique deep hue IMO)

 

Glemorangie "Artein" is another of the yearly "Private Edition" release that is a very special treat. I think this was the special release from 2 years ago, Ealanta is the "Private Edition" from last year. And this year the "Private Edition" is Companta. They usually are $70-$100 a bottle. I think the Artein is my first choice. I will be opening my bottle of Companta on St. Patrick's Day and taste for the first time. The Quinta Ruban & Lasanta are probably the best value/cost offerings from Glenmorangie.

 

the signet costs about 335.00 in Toronto

 

Not sure why it is so expensive in TO. At the LCBO, it is 310.00, so that appears to be the bottom of the local market re price. Canada has a robust Rye Whiskey industry, and they may have added import tariffs for Scottish labels?

If you can ship it in from the USA, there are bottles online from several suppliers. I've seen it as low as $160US (not sure why so low unless they are just dumping stock to open shelf space) and as high as $299 from some specialty shops.

I've used KL Wines in California for some web purchases, and they have been easy to work with. They ship to Ontario, Quebec and Alberta, but I'm not sure what they customs tariffs would be. Their price is $199.99US. While you're at it, they also sell the Quinta Ruban for about $46US (I have no affiliation with them, and they wouldn't recognize my name without checking their database, but they are a legitimate outlet. YMMV).

If you really feel like splurging, they also have a 62 year old MacAllan in a LaLique decanter for a reasonable $62,000

 

The duties and taxes on importing liquor into Canada eliminates all savings . LCBO is a provincial monopoly. I have a fair amount of wine which I have sourced over the years from all over. Those days are over. Canadians can bring into Canada when returning from abroad two bottles duty free. After that, I believe its about 102% of the purchase price. Re the signet , your correct my bad. I thought I paid 335.00

 

Wow that tax level added is harsh in Canada. Total protectionist garbage to get people to buy Canadian products due to raising the cost of anything from outside the country. Sad that this is legal in a world wide global economy>

 

What a rip IMO. Booze seems to be an easy target for tax increases everywhere. It's bad enough that demand is driving price hikes from the distillers; this turns into de facto prohibition for some great spirits. If I were there, I'd just get a bottle of Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve or Crown Royal Black for a good drink, and then buy Scotch when I traveled to the US and back (or have friends mule it for you hahaha)

 

fortunately I have a lot of 18 and 21 year old.

 

Thanks Bob -- I will check these out, probably start with the Aberlour 16. Not sure if I can find it locally. I checked KL and it looks like they don't ship to NJ. I signed up to caskers.com for their email newsletter, I think from a post somewhere in this tread. It looks like Caskers ships to NJ, but I haven't used them yet.

 

I've just recently ventured into scotch and I bought a bottle of Glenlivet 15 years old. The flavor is nice and very smooth with lots of fruit notes and spice notes. Very easy to drink and leaves a nice aftertaste. Not terribly peaty or smoky. Only 50 dollars for a bottle so reasonably priced as well.

 

Here is a link to retailers in all US states that have Whisky Advocate Magazine in their stores. My thought is anyone carrying this will also be carrying a variety of brands of whisky.

Find a Retailer « Whisky Advocate

Total Wine and More is in the New Jersey list; they also have stores in California, and I shop at one; I checked their stock for NJ, and they carry Aberlour & most of the other popular brands. They also have a great selection of wines & various supplies for drunkards. You might find something closer to you, but the TW&M has very competitive prices & they will ship within the State without any issues, I believe.

 

Why not try the double matured Lagavulin? It is a bit more roundet of and not as peaty.

 

GBP 133:95 at the Vintagehouse in Soho, London

 

That's about right; that converts to about $222US; in California, the price is at $230 today. All of it is too expensive, but like collector cars, it shows no signs of slowing down, or going down, in the near future.

 

Bob, you scotch knowledge is a great asset to this forum! I'd like to ask your opinion/suggestions:

Have you had the Scapa 16? If so, can you recommend anything similar (sweet, smooth)? I'm not a fan of very peaty or astringent scotches like Caol Ila, so rather than buying all sorts of bottles and seeing how they are, I'm looking for some guidance in selecting some other must haves that will suit my pallet.

 

Thanks! I appreciate it. My wife supports my habit, and she's become quite knowledgeable in the process (she has also done so without drinking much of it, but no one's perfect haha)

I'm guzzling a Scapa 16 right now, and it is one of the more pleasant surprises of the new year. My wife bought it for me on the recommendation of our whisky guy. I drink it with pre-dinner fruit & cheese, or after dinner while she has a cognac.

Highland Park is the only other Orkney distillery, and I finished a bottle of their 18 last year. The dram was excellent, and it had some of the heather notes that Scapa has, but not the honey-toffee-spice-clove taste on the palate. Highland Park reminds me more of one of the Fine Oak Macallans.

Some of the Highland malts also have that heather note Scapa has, but the honey/toffee nose and oak & honey finish in Scapa are pretty unique for my money (usually, most have honey on either the nose or finish, but not at both ends. Usually, the honey starts, and the finish is then more spice/oak).

The closest I've had to Scapa is Glenmorangie's Nectar D'Or, so you might enjoy that as an alternate. Glenfarclas 15 is also similar, but has more sherry, with raisins, orange peel and dates on the palate. The finish is also nuttier than Scapa.

If I think of another one that matches it, I'll post a note. I'm on the road, but will be forced to test Scapa again tomorrow evening when I return home & see what comes to mind...

 

Great, Bob, thanks for the recommendations! I've just located the Nectar D'Or and Glenfarclas on wine-searcher.com (sorts price/location nationwide if you haven't used it) and I'll be receiving them early next week. Looking forward to seeing how they are.

 

Thanks Bob -- this helps a lot. The Total Wines are not too far from me. I've been to one before, but I was on a wine mission at the time and didn't check out the scotch selection.

The scotch market has been absolutely crazy. Any truly rare/special scotch has gone up a lot (sometimes many fold) over the last few years. I have been tempted, and continue to be tempted, to buy some for investment, but it's gone up so much in the past few years that it's probably too late.

 

De nada, you're welcome. The nectar D'Or is sweeter than some of their other bottles, but if you like it, you'll most likely also get the Quinta Ruban and Lasanta next. Glenmorangie has really improved a lot in the part few years IMO. The only downside is their prices will follow suit if the Scotch crowd continues to buy it in such strong numbers.

They also own Ardbeg, an Islay whisky that has also gotten much better and more popular since Moet Hennessy bought them back in 2004. The parent company brought in designers (they also own Louis Vuitton), who were the ones that re-did the labels, gave the various sub-brands their new names, and also gave their bottles a distinct curviness most people don't think of (but the company hopes are subconsciously aware of it0. I hope you enjoy both bottles; let us know how they were when you try them.

 

I know some collectors, and have seen some bottles of Scotch I'd love to have, but I just can't buy something made for drinking and then not drink it. It's kind of like the Ferrari driving versus garage-queen conflict, I guess.

Part of my incentive to start drinking other brands was when Macallan began rising in cost far beyond what it was worth; in retrospect, I'm glad it did since I've found that the search for great Scotch is actually pretty fun (even when sober).