My partner craves a really smoky Islay Scotch, but that is not my jam at all and I wouldn’t know a good scotch from a bagpiper’s bowel movement.
A cursory Google search says Octomore, a revived brand from Bruichladdich Distillery, is the peatiest of the peaty, but I’m not finding it very cheap nor shipping from within the US. Can anyone recommend a good smoky Islay that’s somewhat affordable (I’m willing to go up to maybe $200) and from an online US whiskey distributor? TIA!
I’m not a huge Islay fan, but I do enjoy it from time to time. Laphroaig, Ardbeg, and Lagavulin are brands that I’ve tried and liked. Laphroaig, for example, has a variety of versions, some of which are crazy-expensive, but it looks like some of them are under $100 at my local big-box liquor store.
These are the essential standards for Islay Scotch whisky. Lagavulin got really popularized due to Parks & Rec and Ron Swanson’s affectation (which was the result of actor Nick Offerman and showrunner Mike Schur’s shared love of the whisky) and is quite good although hard to find, but for the money I think Laphroaig Quarter Cask with a dram of branch water is the perfect expression of Islay whisky; if you drink it completely ‘neat’ (as poured just out of the bottle) it doesn’t fully express the taste and aroma of the peatiness, which should be experienced in waves as the water releases aromatic compounds. If you want no water or on the rocks (if that is your thing) then just the Laphroaig 10 Year Old is good. Ardbeg is….fine…but I have to finding it underwhelming after how much it has been pushed on me.
I don’t know Octomore but “more peat” is not necessarily better; the peat needs to be balanced by a little sweetness or else it just leaves a burnt aftertaste. In whiskey, as with many things, higher price corresponds more to “eliteness” than actual taste. In that price range I’d go for a Lagavulin Special Release or Laphroiag Brodir (Port Barrel Aged).
Stranger
This may be of practical use to you, especially if you are already familiar with your partner’s preferences. You can find many versions of the same map - just google whisky taste map. Including the name of a preferred whisky in the search may improve search results (that’s how I use it - my preferences fall into top right, but fairly close to the centre - Talisker, Highland Park…
Enjoy.
j
ETA - click to enlarge, I guess.
Hey, now that’s a handy map! Thanks!
Scotch is my drink of choice, and I love a smoky, peaty Islay. My husband got me a bottle of Octomore a while back (from Wine.com), and it was fantastic. I also like Laphroaig and Ardbeg, and those are pretty easy to find at places like Total Wine or BevMo, sometimes even at smaller liquor stores.
I don’t know how well-versed your partner is in Scotches, but a lot of folks have only tried Islays (smoky and peaty) and Speysides (mellow and approachable) and don’t know of the wide variety available from other regions. The Northern and Western Highlands, as well as the other islands, and Campbeltown, often produce Scotches that tend to be more similar to Islays, while the Eastern and South/Central Highlands and Lowlands tend to produce lighter, fruitier, smoother Scotches that more resemble Speysides. Some non-Islay Scotches that an Islay fan might enjoy include Highland Park, Oban, and Talisker.
ETA: Wow, a lot more posts went up while I was typing this! Serves me right for taking work calls during my lunch break.
All good points. Aside from Glenmorangie, Highland Scotches are largely overlooked but Clynelish and Oban are among my favorites. Not a fan of Highland Park or Talisker (they’re fine, just overpriced, IMHO) but if the o.p. is really looking for maximum peat then the obvious choices are the Islays.
Stranger
Bowmore 15. You’re welcome.
I was just going to mention Bowmore - a wonderful Scotch.
I had a shot of Lagavulin (I think about fourteen yo) over a single ice cube once, and it reminded me of the last day of the camping trips that my dad took us on when I was a kid.
By which I mean, it tasted like the embers of the campfire after Dad poured cold water on them. I could probably acquire a taste for it, given enough time, but IIRC, it cost $80 a shot at the Napa Rose restaurant. To be sure, the Napa Rose is a bit of a spendy place, so that might represent a significant markup, and a bottle could be well within the OP’s budget.
Restaurant alcohol markup is indeed ridiculous. Total Wine has a bottle of Lagavulin 16 year for 70 bucks: Lagavulin 16 Year | Total Wine & More
I’d say you’re half right. Talisker might be a tad over-priced. But Highland Park is worth every farthing.
If it’s this Napa Rose, it’s currently $12.75 for a 16 year old Lagavulin.
https://touringplans.com/disneyland-resort/dining/napa-rose-bar/menus/bar-menu#
I was disappointed to find out that I couldn’t buy a bottle of Finnerty’s (the scotch they drink on Blue Bloods), so I made my own label and glued it on an old bottle. I wanted a peaty, smoky Islay scotch to fill it with.
I found just the thing at Trader Joe’s… their Islay Storm.
The extended family really liked it when they descended on us for Thanksgiving. But what to do with half a bottle of a whisky that isn’t my thang? I took it to a neighborhood “poker and wine snob evening”.
The guys chuckled at the fake bottle, but agreed the scotch was damn good.
One guy who came in late looked over the bottle and said “I’ve just been on a distillery tour that included the island where this is made.” (Uh, no, I’d made it up).
He took a sip, pronounced it “Good smoke, good moss, one of the best from those environs (yes, he used the word environs, sheesh…). I’ll bet someone saved up a while for this.”
None of us told him it was $19 just down the block.
.
TL/DR: Repeated one of my favorite stories, yada yada, Islay Storm, $20-ish at TJ’s.
Interesting map. Not sure I understand the Delicate to Smoky scale. Most of the ones in the 15 to 20 range are not ones I would consider medium peaty. Aberfeldy 12 for example. I like it as a good simple easy drinker now and then. But I didn’t think it was peated at all, let alone a 17 out of 40 level
I have to say, I found the peatiness of Octomore a bit over the top—although there’s usually different varieties, with different finishes, per each expression, and I only had the one that’s just been aged (5 years, so the peat packs even more of a punch) in ex-bourbon casks. If you want to spend that sort of money, you should be sure that this is the right sort of thing. I do love the other peated (but not quite as extremely peated) line of Bruichladdich distillery, Port Charlotte; the 10 years old is a favorite, and quite affordable.
I’m also a fan of the rather young Islay distillery Kilchoman, particularly the Sanaig. Beyond that, there’s also tons of independent bottlers creating intriguing variations on the basic theme of most of the distilleries—I’ve had a Bunnahabhain from Duncan Taylor’s ‘The Octave’-series, finished in very small octave casks, so the whisky gets more exposure to the barrel’s wood, that was just heaven in a bottle; plus, if you’re into that sort of thing, these are single barrel bottlings, so there’s only like 90 or so bottles of each around.
Then there’s also the ‘mystery malts’, where you don’t know the original distillery, and thus, potentially don’t have to pay extra for the name. Peat’s Beast Batch Strength is a very affordable peaty expression with a strong sherry note (not for anybody who doesn’t like sherried whiskies!), similarly, but at a higher price point, Smokehead Sherry Bomb. Ben Bracken—which is Lidl—has a 27 year old Islay that’s basically the only way I can justify buying something of that age, and if you can get it and the fact that it’s a supermarket whisky isn’t a deal breaker, you can’t really get much better regarding value for money.
Like I said, there are many versions of this map - they all seem pretty similar, though I guess individual whiskies may be placed differently on different versions (depending on who’s doing the tasting?)
I’ve used it successfully to find new whiskies that I like. For example, I like Talisker and I like Bowmore; Highland Park is just next to them on the taste map, so I bought myself a bottle. Loved it. Old Pulteney is in the same neighbourhood… hang on a minute, it doesn’t appear to be on that version, so I’ll just google old pulteney taste map - ah, here you go, a different version of the map (this one won’t preview, sorry) and you can see Old Pulteney not far from my favourites. I have a bottle queued up to try next, and I’m pretty confident I’m going to like it, probably a lot.
j