What whisk(e)y are we drinking? (Part 2)

I think they’ve overpriced it too, but if they have…. a lot of other new Irish distilleries and bottlers do the same, some inflated/ambitious pricing at the upper middle and high end of the market lately… Only time will tell if they were right.

Whiskey is a subjective matter, so all viewpoints are valid really, to some extent anyway... But in this context I used 'approachable' in the context of Connemara's phenol content. Connemara is about 15 ppm as compared to 35 ppm for Lagavulin and 45 ppm and upwards for Laphroaig, Ardbeg and others. 15 ppm and below is generally considered to refer to lightly peated whiskies. In an Irish context Connemara is there with the likes of the Midnight Silkie as a way for people to try a peated Irish without getting really outside of their comfort zone.

Caol Ila has more of a maritime, oilier element. If the Lagavulin 16 is your benchmark you’d struggle in the core Caol Ila range to find something to match it in my view, although I do like Caol Ila at the same time. A lot of it goes into blends, single cask sales and so on.

If you’re looking for alternatives to Lagavulin I would suggest trying Talisker and Kilchoman.

Clyneish is a great whisky but another one I associate more as used in blends from likes of JW.

The first cask strength whisky I ever had was Caol Ila... I think possibly the first non chill filtered one as well. I'll always have a soft spot for them as a distillery. Very underrated, at some point I must get a bottle of the 12 year old to revisit it.

I was in London over the weekend, and quite a boozy evening was had, to say the least. I had several Balvenie 12 year old double woods. I think the Balvenie 12 remains one of those classic entry scotches that almost anyone will enjoy, particularly non whisky drinkers.

Also tried a couple glasses of FEW 8 Immortals rye. Basically you've got FEW rye at cask strength, and they use a cold-extracted tea to bring the ABV down slightly. I'm a fan of FEW and this was pleasant, but I don't think the tea really contributes anything. It was discernible, but it just makes it a bit vegetal.

Bought a number of whiskies over the course of the weekend:-

Lagavulin 12 year old special edition (2020), got it 120 GBP / 140 euro... The same whisky I saw priced at 200 most recently in Ireland. This isn't staying with me, unfortunately, it's a gift.

Lagavulin travel retail 10 year old... 40 GBP at Gatwick airport. This was a sale price, part of their whisky festival event.

Talisker 10 year old 1L... 45 GBP at Gatwick. The 10 used to be one of those whiskies you could count on to get for 30-40 GBP (750ml) but those days seem long gone now. For the 1L I was happy with this.