Both distilleries, about 45 minutes apart at opposite ends of Islay, are owned by Diageo and use identically peated malt when making peated whiskies. Matured exclusively in ex-Oloroso sherry casks, this has big butterscotch and sherried fruit, mix with a little peat smoke for an easy-drinking, reliable Scotch. Signet is produced from two different types of malted barley. Both whisky brands are situated in Scotland, with Lagavulin established on the isle of Islay while Oban was established in the Kintyre Peninsula. (182.86 per litre) A magnificent whisky. You clearly have very little understanding of whisky, Your email address will not be published. If you want the peat influence to be subtler, less medicinal and more cold smoke and earth/brush, then look at Caol Ila. While every distillery is unique, there are unofficial regional styles that can help cut out some of the noise when browsing a liquor store. The malted barley is peated in Glen Ord. Price is (usually) a better indicator of quality. A 12 year-old Glenlivet costs around $25 a bottle, while a 12 year-old Lagavulin costs $99 a bottle! During the aging process, the flavors captured in the wood are infused into the single malt giving it more depth. I first tasted Talisker 10 in the early 90s and Lagavullin 16 not long after. Laphroaigs Select Isaly scotch whisky has a bit of history to it. Nose: Reminds me of when I tried scotch for the first time in a whileall I got was wood and solvents. Finish: A slight bitterness that I would have let slide had it not seemed to originate from whatever was the cause of the acrid taste from the palate. Despite the lack of an age statement, Deanston Virgin Oak is a single-malt Scotch whisky with a price reserved for the less-than-amazing stuff. After that, he said that the peat used for Talisker comes from the Black Isle or Speyside. Best Overall Scotch. The usual Islay names, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Bruichladdichs Port Charlotte or Octomore range, Bowmore or Laphroaig will suit you, so will whiskies from the other western islands like Talisker (Skye) or Ledaig (Mull). Ardbeg is a brand of Scottish single malt that is situated a short distance from Lagavulin. Whatever your tastes, we've got a recommendation. Finish: No burn, just smoke and thick chocolate. There are still over a hundred-peat fired electricity generation plants, mostly in Scandinavia. Take Lagavulin, one of Islays iconic peated whiskies. Malting is done by steeping the barley in water and leaving it to germinate on a malting floor. Its solid all around. The 14 Year Bourbon Barrel Reserve is aged for 14 years in ex-bourbon casks before being transferred to first-fill, heavily-charred American oak barrels from Louisville, bringing more wood. The name is a reference to the Catholic Insurrection in England in the early sixteenth century that attempted to topple Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with her half-sister, Mary Queen of Scots. To be considered a blended malt Scotch whisky, it must be made up of two or more single malt Scotch whiskies from multiple distilleries. Lagavulin 16 Year Scotch Whisky $92.35 Buy Now 11. Youd be crazy not to like the ones they mostly use for blends. The Blended Scotch Whisky of the Year was Insurrection Single Grain Scotch, 25 YO, 55% ABV, 750 ml, $299. According to the official tasting note submitted by the judging panel, the whisky exhibits: Whiffs of tobacco and dark chocolate and berries are found in the nose. Talisker 10, while also well-known today, is still an old reliable. Novices should start by exploring the regions of Scotland. The award for the Best 20 YO Single Malt went to another legendary Scotch whisky: Mortlach, 20 YO, 43.4% ABV, 750 ml, $250. All three brands are produced by Diageo, and all three have their own core ranges and special bottlings. Peat Monster, from Compass Box lives up to its name and so does Big Peat from Douglas Laing. Oban 14 View this post on Instagram Relaxing on the long weekend! ABV: 43%. The closest scotch I can think of to Lagavulin 16 is Ardbeg 10 year. Lagavulin 16 was my first peated single malt. Its a very well made whisky. ), 45.8% ABV. Its thick on the tongue and has a sweeter, almost Bourbon-like flavor with notes of cherries, vanilla and honey. Lagavulin 16 vs Oban 14: Which is better? Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Its core line-up is packaged without fuss or frills, making them a great value (Glenfarclas 12 is great for those on a budget) and the 17 year just gets it right. Mortlach is one of the few distilleries that still operates worm coils instead of the modern clam shell condensers. The two tones at play with one another here are that of a rich sweetness beginning and an extra spicy finish. (As a side note: as Diageo and Talisker continue to grow, I hope they dont shorten Taliskers 65-hour fermentation in wooden mash tuns. The scotch is matured in Pedro Ximnez and Oloroso sherry casks which heighten flavor and uniqueness. Finally, dont ignore the peated offerings from the specialty bottlers. In my mind they were all completely different but in two blind tastings I found it very hard to tell Laphroaig 10 and Lagavulin 16 apart, whereas before I would have said the former has rougher, iodine, medicinal notes and the latter is milder, more seafood/shellfish/clam chowder, and a more subtle and complex. Despite being more watery, the peat here is still stronger which makes me stand by my opinion that Talisker remains the better peated single malt to introduce to folks getting into this kind of whisky. Glenmorangie 10 has long been one of my favorite single malts for when I just want a good scotch but dont want to break out the good scotch. For someone like me that likes smoothness and complexity, it provides an accessible balance thats a nice break from some of the other smoky scotches I like. In the western islands of Scotland, especially on Islay, and in the Northern Highlands, peat was historically burned to produce heat during the whisky making process. Dark color sherry cask finish with toasted nuts and chocolate on the nose. I came to this through my father's bottles, which were typically a collection of things that supermarkets sold on discount on occasion: Glenmorangie Laphroaig, Talisker, and Penderyn. The brands scotches are produced on original Victorian-era machinery in order to stay true to whats worked well all this time. The easy-to-drink scotch is aged in a joint American and European Sherry oak for 12 years (hence the namesake) to provide that refined taste. The whisky is matured in both bourbon and sherry casks for 16 years before being married together and bottled. But I have samples of the Dalwhinnie 15 and Cragganmore 12. Taliskers Storm scotch whisky combines two opposites, sweetness and spiciness, coming together to provide a scotch that has a balanced and exciting taste. These distilleries contributes with malts to Johnnie Walkers blended whiskies. The Best Scotches Recommended by Bartenders. (It famously produces much of the Scotch for blending in Johnnie Walker expressions.) Macallan is a well-known name, even by those that arent the most devoted scotch drinkers. In general, expect Campbeltown whisky to be dry and pungent, with a peatiness thats less smokey and meaty, like that found in Islay, and more earthy decay and fantastic funk. Begin typing your search above and press return to search. For a subtler peat influence try the Glenlivet Nadurra Peated Whisky Cask Finish. 38.95 from The Whisky Exchange. Notes: A classic balance-not too smoky, not too sweet. There are a number of additional differences between the sister distilleries. Posted on Published: August 30, 2022- Last updated: September 3, 2022. Lagavulin 16 anos . Bottle Price: N/A (paid $14 plus tip for a dram at a St. Petersburg, FL bar) Consumed neat in a very tiny tumbler. The distillery uses some of the smallest stills in Scotland, meaning that the 18-year release is a hard-to-find, limited-release, despite being a flagship product. Bisected from north to south by the River Spey, Speyside is a little pocket of land in the northeast of Scotland, surrounded on three sides by the Highlands and the North Sea. What do Lagavulin and Oban have in common? Oily mouthfeel paired with a honey sweetness and a very acrid, slightly woody taste that I cannot place. Heavy, shallow marketing gets on my nerves. For starters, there are five Scotch regions: Speyside, Highlands, Islay, Lowlands and Campbeltown. a deep amber liquid with long oily legs. This gets slightly pricklier and more tart at the end. These include golf, gardening, technology, and a decent cup of coffee or two. Bottled at 61.5% ABV, this is reminiscent of what Glenlivet would have tasted in the early 19th century. It has a hefty 46.3 percent ABV, spending time in both ex-bourbon casks and new oak barrels. Well layered with dark fruit and sherry with a mild oak layering followed by a long smoky peaty finish with a soft presence of vanilla. The Singleton is actually three separate brands: The Singleton of Glendullan, the Singleton of Glen Ord, and the Singleton of Dufftown. Oban 14 has a very pleasant smoky taste that doesnt overwhelm other notes making it a good choice for those who want smoke in moderation when compared to Smoky Islay Malts that offer blasts of smoke. Scotch whisky is produced in one of the five areas in Scotland. It was prominently featured in Diageos Classic Malts Collection as a quintessential example of a West Highlands malt. With its distinct dry smokiness, the Offerman Edition resides squarely within the Lagavulin canon, but the differences from the 16-year-old are noticeable. Islay is a small island thats believed to have played a major role in distilling crossing the sea from Ireland to Scotland in the 13th century. In short, you want to make it last. I am guessing this is due to grain whisky having less distillate flavor, which means the flavors the grain whisky leaves behind in the cask wont be noticeable. These include whiskies aged between 7 and 37 years, with a minimum price point of $50 and a maximum of $3000. I'm very sleepy, so I will let the reviews speak for themselves: Oban 14: Highland Single Malt Scotch Whiskey; 43% ABV. Vanilla and baked fruit lay in the mouth with a light coating of vanilla followed by a balanced finish with lingering vanilla notes. When referring to Scotch, use the term "whisky" and not "whiskey.". Peat and sherry with a lovely burning lifeboat on the seashore kind of smoke. The phenol guaiacol, for example, imparts flavors of kippers, smoked bacon and old cheese to a whisky, while cresol, another phenol, imparts medicinal flavors of disinfectant and antiseptic. In this case Insurrection comes from a now closed Lowland distillery. Oban 14 anos . In this article, we dig into Lagavulin vs Oban Whisky by examining their histories and variations, as well as several alternatives should you choose to not buy either of the brands discussed. You may opt-out by. Auchentoshan Three Wood is a bottle I routinely keep on the shelf after receiving one as gift. This is a superb whisky that combines notes of chocolate, dried fruit, candied citrus peel and bread pudding notes into a layered, complex, absolutely stunning whisky at a very affordable price. Whisky reviews with objectivity and transparency. Oban ages for 14 years in ex-bourbon barrels. Phenols are a large family of chemical compounds that occur frequently in nature. We dont want to sell advertising. Uigeadail is a double matured Islay whisky, which according to the company, marries Ardbeg's traditional deep, smoky notes with luscious, raisiny tones of old ex-Sherry casks. The combination of Islays traditional smoky whisky and the sweet dried fruit notes obtained from sweet wine casks has always been a winning formula on Islay, and has been replicated in dozens of expressions. It starts with the barley being collected from across Scotland after which it is malted. Others do paid-for content with brands. $19.50 USD . Try These Whiskeys, The Complete Buying Guide to Buffalo Trace Whiskey, The Most Exciting New Bourbon and Whiskeys of 2022, The 22 Best Scotch Whiskies You Can Drink Right Now, The Glenlivet Ndurra Peated Whisky Cask Finish, Glenfiddich Bourbon Barrel Reserve 14 Year Old. The peat is accompanied by toffee, butterscotch, caramel, some light pickled seaweed with sesame seeds on top, nori and some more coastal aromas. The 12 and Limited Edition are yearly releases and werent officially available here. This is a super easy-going Scotch, with delicate sweetness and little in the way of smoke, oak, or complexity. It tends to impart flavors of cold smoke and dry brush. Peated or unpeated? The process allows for a series of interesting contrasts: smoky and sweet with a perfect balance. Press Esc to cancel. I write about wines and spirits and the hidden corners of the world, Thinking About Black Wine Business Beyond Black History Month, Whisky Review: Compass Box, Benriach, Tobermory, And More, Vibrant Whites, Distinctive RedsAppreciating The Wines Of Friuli, Appreciating Some Of Italys Lesser Known Varietals And Grapes, Wine Cocktails That Take The Chill Off Winter, Bacardis Latest Cask Finished Rum Expressions Are Exceptional, The Worlds Best BourbonAccording To The 2023 World Whiskies Awards. Tastes, we 've got a recommendation Oban was established in the Kintyre Peninsula prominently featured Diageos! Five areas in Scotland squarely within the Lagavulin canon, but the differences from specialty... At 61.5 % ABV, spending time in both bourbon and sherry casks for 16 before... Here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser Dalwhinnie and... And the Singleton of Glendullan, the flavors captured in the Kintyre Peninsula baked fruit lay in the are. 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