Tag: islay

  • Bunnahabhain 12-Year Scoresheet & Review

    Bunnahabhain 12-Year Scoresheet & Review

    Bunnahabhain is unique for a very simple reason: It’s one of the only Islay distilleries to produce unpeated malt whisky. That’s not to say no peated whisky is produced there (see: Toiteach A Dhà), but unpeated Islay single malt is more or less the spiel. That and the common bottling…

  • Caol Ila 12-Year Scoresheet & Review

    Caol Ila 12-Year Scoresheet & Review

    It’s almost impossible to discuss Caol Ila without mentioning Johnnie Walker. Malts.com, the page for Diageo’s multiple scotch brands, literally calls it “the Islay home of Johnnie Walker.” That alone should clue curious minds into just how big this Islay distillery is, but if you want numbers, the distillery is…

  • Ardbeg An Oa Scoresheet & Review

    Ardbeg An Oa Scoresheet & Review

    Exploring peated scotch has been one of the most interesting and exciting treks in my spirits journey thus far. In addition to the broadly distinct profile, different peated malts can come across so differently, even without doing side-by-side comparisons. And yet, where I believe these drams can impress the most…

  • Ardbeg Wee Beastie Scoresheet & Review

    Ardbeg Wee Beastie Scoresheet & Review

    Peaty scotch has a reputation for turning many a casual drinker away from the popular whisky category as a whole. My experience was somewhat different. Bowmore was the first peated single malt I recall trying, and by that point I’d already tasted the likes of Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Glenmorangie, and The…

  • Ardbeg 10-Year Scoresheet & Review

    Ardbeg 10-Year Scoresheet & Review

    “Unapologetic” is a fairly apt way to describe Ardbeg’s marketing. More specifically, they drop vaguely sourced quotes like “as close to perfection as makes no difference” and “unquestionably, the greatest distillery on Earth,” as if to epitomize themselves. Some may say it’s fun and confidence, others might call it egotistical…

  • Lagavulin 9-Year Lannister Scoresheet & Review

    Lagavulin 9-Year Lannister Scoresheet & Review

    Up to this point, the closest I’ve come to reviewing a peated whisky was my last review for a Game of Thrones brand Diageo single malt. It’s easy to think of Talisker Select Reserve as definitively peaty when compared to the slow-growing list of scotches I’ve reviewed. Yet if we…