I meant to post this awhile ago, but I didn’t get to it until now, so hopefully the memories are still fresh enough to be of interest. This past June two friends and I went to Scotland with the task of visiting as many distilleries as time would allow, and of tasting as many different whiskies as our livers could handle. We had a mere 10 days (not nearly enough time to do the country justice, much less the task at hand!), but nonetheless set out to explore parts of Campeltown, Islay, Oban, and Speyside (Dufftown area). We were able to visit about 23 different distilleries and tried the following ~75 different whiskies:
Hazleburn 12 yr
Hazleburn 10 yr, Special Edition
Springbank 10 yr
Springbank 15 yr
Springbank Gaja Barolo
Longrow NAS
Longrow 18 yr
Caol Ile 30 yr (DT)
Bowmore Surf
Bowmore Tempest Batch 4
Bowmore 15 yr Darkest
Laphroaig 10 yr Cask Strength, Batch 6
Laphroaig 18 yr
Laphroaig 1999 (from cask)
Laphroaig 2002 (from cask)
Laphroaig 2005 (from cask)
Ardbeg Blasda
Ardbeg 10
Ardbeg Alligator
Ardbeg Uigeadail
Ardbeg Corryvrecken
Lagavulin White Dog
Lagavulin 16 yr
Lagavulin Distiller’s Edition
Lagavulin 2014 Friend’s Bottling
Lagavulin 2014 Feis Ile 19 yr
Bruichladdich Octomore
Bruichladdich Distillery Only Cask, 24 yr
Kilchomman Machir Bay
Tobermory 10 yr
Oban 14 yr
Ledaig 10 yr
Oban Distiller’s Edition
White & Mackay (eww)
Black Bottle (even worse)
Old Puteney (also not remotely good)
Ben Nevis 3 yr
Ben Nevis 10 yr
Dufftown White Dog
BenRiach White Dog
Pittyvaich 12 yr
Singleton of Dufftown 12 yr
Mortlach 16 yr
Mortlach 15 yr (G&M)
Glendullan 14 yr/1999 (G&M)
Glenfiddich Fine Oak
Balvenie Signature 12 yr
Convalmore 16 yr, 1984 (G&M)
Glenfarclas 30 yr
Glen Grant Major’s Reserve
Glen Grant 10 yr
Longmorn 18 yr
Strathisla 19 yr
Glenfiddich 12 yr
Glenfiddich 15 yr Solera
Glenfiddich 18 yr
Glendullan 12 yr
Dailuaine 16 yr
Inchgower 14 yr
Benrinnes 15 yr
Balvenie Double Wood
Bruichladdich Islay Barley
Cardhu 15 yr
The Whisky Chamber ‘Tempt the Devil, V5’ (Lagavulin)
Aberlour 12 yr Bicentennial
Aberlour 21 yr (originally destined for Royal Salute)
Aberlour 26 yr (originally destined for Royal Salute)
Inverleven 1973 (Drink at the Door Range)
Dalwhinnie 15 yr Cask Strength, 1997
Dalwhinnie 15 yr
Dalwhinnie Distiller’s Edition
Edradour 10 yr
Macallan 18 yr Fine Oak
Glenfarclas 10 yr
All-in-all it was an incredible trip with many great drams and even better company. Some take-aways from the trip… Of all of the whiskies, the Convalmore sticks out the most; drinking it was a ‘revelation’ moment for me. I didn’t take formal notes, but still remember the complex fruits, sherry depth, and long finish. A real shame that the distillery is long closed and that the remaining whisky costs ridiculous amounts of money.
The best experience was no doubt our visit to Laphroaig. We did the ‘Water to Whisky’ tour, which was basically an all day affair that includes a very thorough tour of the distillery (including a chance to go out on the malting floor and turn the malt), a visit to the peat bogs to cut peat, a fantastic lunch at the source water, and the ability to try three different Laphroaig spirits out of the cask and then bottle one. Our tour guide was incredible, we learned a ton, and we tasted a lot of great whisky. One of my favorite photos of the trip is of a couple of Laphroaig bottles nestled in freshly cut peat (see the bottom of the post, couldn’t figure out how to embed the photo here).
We also loved going to Bruichladdich. I hadn’t been all that familiar with them prior to the trip, but we were all very impressed with the fact that they are an independent distillery making a lot of innovative whisky using very traditional techniques. We also tried their Botanist gin… as many of the Scots say, ‘It’s pretty good if you’re the kind of person that likes gin.’
I was also amazed at the number of good Speyside whiskies that I tried but had never heard of before. I guess they just don’t make it over here to the States, or else don’t make it here in a large enough quantity that I would notice them without really looking. I really enjoyed Benrinnes, Longmorn, and Pittyvaich (and Convalmore, obviously).
Finally, while the Scots excel at making a wide variety of whiskies, this talent unfortunately does not extend to much of the country’s culinary ability. I really enjoy haggis and fish and chips, but it gets a bit monotonous when those are the only things offered at 95% of all restaurants. Plus, I’m pretty sure a large percentage of our food was just microwaved for us.
Anyway, fantastic trip. I highly recommend you give it a try yourself!
