Kilchoman, “Machir Bay” is my fav peated Islay whisky. Usually get it at K&L for $55, occasionally it’s from a blend they have chosen.
I haven’t tried any Kilchoman in a while, but I was impressed when I visited there. They are super nice people trying to do it right, which gives them a bunch of points in my book, considering the ills that have befallen so many beloved older distilleries.
Btw I should have said fav qpr. Sanaig and others are definitely worth their higher price tags.
I have trouble picking a single daily drinker since I like the variation from one region to the next. Recognizing these aren’t deep, contemplative whiskeys, YMMV. But for daily drinkers, I try to stick to 10 or 12 year if I’m going for an age statement at all. I think these are all ~$50 or so, which I don’t mind at all for weeknight pours.
Islay: Laphroaig 10. My first love. It was the first scotch I actually liked and what got me interested in the genre.
Islands: Arran 10 or Highland Park 10
Campbeltown: Springbank 10
Speyside: Glenfarclas 10
Highlands: Glendronach 12
Thanks all. I went to Costco one day and picked up some Aberfeldy 12 (on sale $26.99 on a buy 2) and Kirkland 12 year blended scotch ($34.99 for 1.75L) on a whim. Neither of these have any peat.
The Aberfeldy was nice. I’d call it like a Sauvignon Blanc of Scotch. Super easy drinking, fruity and floral, with no peat to be found anywhere. Still a pleasant quaff.
The Kirkland was definitely a step down from the Aberfeldy. It’s also easy drinking and fruity, but it did something odd on the mid palate. After a couple of follow up pours over the next few days, I got used to the mid palate and don’t notice it any more. This is acceptable by itself, but might be better in cocktail.
I’ll give the other suggestions a try once I find a bottle!
I’d love to find Springbank 10 for anywhere close to $50.
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Me too! My last bottle was still in the $50 range, but been living off my supply from the start of the pandemic. Just looked at prices at my local store, yikes!
Cheap peat without going insane on the peat or prices and something that you can daily? Ardmore.
My daily driver for Islay malts is Ardbeg 10. Here in South Florida, I can get it for $56.99. Kilchoman also makes a fine whisky but I don’t recall if the Machir Bay fits your price point.
Ledaig 10 has been getting a lot of love lately for an under-the-radar peated whisky but it seems retailers are catching on as I’ve seen the price creeping up lately.
If your Costco has any of the Kirkland Signature Single Malt Islay bottles from Alexander Murrach, I’d grab those. I believe they were offered at $39.99 and are bottled at 50% ABV, speculation last year was this was either Port Charlotte or Caol Ila in the bottle. Not a bad dram for $40.
My answer would be Talisker 10, altho now it is discontinued IIRC.
Had everything I’d want for a whisky, widely available.
Even after drinking a lot of crazy stuff, I miss it.
Is Talisker 10 itself discontinued or did they just update the label which resulted in a “discontinued” stock with old labels?
I’m not sure tbh, I remember hearing that Talisker could no longer follow the demand of the market with a true 10 yo whisky, so instead of selling a 8 or so for the same amount of money (that could piss people off) they decided to go heavy on NAS and would eventually discontinue the 10 yo. In the last couple years I actually saw less and less of it around, didn’t check if Talisker was following through with this mentioned plan , because no matter how I consider Talisker 10 the perfect daily dram, I don’t do daily drams. I consume around 1lt of whiskey per year and most of it is made of different stuff
It is not discontinued. There was a rumor like 7 years ago that it might be discontinued, but that would be a nut shot for Diageo. They just changed the label, and so now some bottles of Talisker are sold with “Discontinued Presentation” meaning “with the old label.” You can go buy Talisker 10 at Total Wine today with its new label. Or at least that’s my understanding.
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I heard the rumor before covid (7 years ago I was 21 blisfully drinking Jack Daniels) so if they changed their mind that’s awsome!!
I’ve recently started seeing “Kirkland Signature Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky” for $35 appear about a month ago at my local Costcos (Southern Cali). From the reviews I read online, it seems to be quite decent for the price.
Glenfarclas for age statements, Naked Grouse or Named Malt for blended as it is a triumvirate of Macallan, Highland Park, and Glenrothes.
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Yes, I saw Talisker 10 at a Total Wine a week ago. And, their selection of Scotch bottlings seems to have declined over the pandemic (don’t go often).
-Al
I bought a bottle last week. Only watered-back to 50%, which is nice. It is clearly a young spirit – it has that taste, and it’s pretty damn rough. Now, if we are to couch this in terms of “for a young spirit,” then sure, it’s good. But it kinda tears my palate up a bit, which is saying something given that I have no problem drinking other cask strength bottlings that are meaningfully stronger on the proof.
As far as my guess as to what it is: if somebody gave it to me blind, and didn’t tell me anything about it, I’d guess a young Lagavulin. Now, do I really think it’s a young Lagavulin? No, because I pretty much never seen an independent bottling of their whiskies. So, if we knock that one out, I’m left thinking it’s Caol Ila. There’s a considerable amount of banter online surmising it’s Bruichladdich – that would be my third guess. Really don’t think it’s Bunnahabhain, Bowmore, Ardbeg, Kilchoman, or Laphroaig.
I did put a splash into a pan sauce I did for some pork chops, and I have to say it worked very well. So, at a bare minimum, I’ll continue to buy for that reason. But, as far as drinking goes, I’d much rather be sipping on a Laphroaig 10 (yes, the standard watered-back botting).
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I got a bottle of the Kirkland today and agree it’s young and a bit rough. I enjoyed it a lot, and will likely buy it again. I haven’t been drinking a lot of single malts lately and would not take a guess on who made it. I was thinking about a tasting with another young malt, but my bottle of Wee Bestie got emptied a few months ago.
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I finally caved in and bought of a bottle of the Kirkland today also (in addition to a surprise find of a Yamazaki 12 at 99$). Sipping on it right now alongside Ardbeg An Oa and Laphroaig 10. An Oa is obviously significantly rounder, sweeter and more approachable one of the bunch while Laphroaig is more monochromatic, single-minded, dry and ashy. Kirkland however, covers a wider spectrum of flavors at a higher volume (prob due to higher abv) than both of these. There’s sweetness, vanilla, peat, brine and smoke but it is also decently well balanced. I definitely prefer it to An Oa which is just too tamed for my preferences in this category, but it is more refined and complex than Laphroaig. I can’t quite say which one I prefer, as I don’t exactly mind the more rough nature of Laphroaig either without all the pretenses. I noticed the guys over at Whiskey Vault (yt channel) just did a pretty favorable review on this as well. I gotta say for my palate at least, this is an amazing Islay especially for the $36 asking price and I am definitely going back to pick up more. As to the source, many seem to be guessing Caol Ila or Bowmore. They did some detective work on the WV review mentioned above but no definitive conclusions.