What's your tipple this evening then?

[Phil Silvers]

Looking forward to hearing @av1 tasting notes from yesterday.

[fightoffyour]

[Guest av1]

3 hours ago, Phil Silvers said:

Looking forward to hearing @av1 tasting notes from yesterday.

It was great mate. 
 

With everything being free inside it’s always very tempting at these events to try all the really expensive stuff (and I do try 1 or 2, but I tend to concentrate on the bottles that fall into a price bracket I’m happy to pay, I see very little point in falling in love with something I can’t afford. 
 

My favourites from the day. 
 

Kilchoman Machir Bay: It’s a Islay, so peaty, finished in bourbon and Sherry casks. Quite light and fruity and it was a really finish,  really nice and oily. 46ABV About £40

Kilchoman Sanaig: This was incredible. Like the Machir Bay finished in bourbon and Sherry casks, but the Sherry was more prominent. It was like dark berries, chocolate and pepper. Really spicy finish, lovely. 46ABV - About £48

Glendronach 15: Another stunner this is slightly more expensive at about £60 but worth ever penny. Good to read up on this distillery. It was mothballed about a decade ago, so it’s thought that the age statements are wrong, and the 15 is generally thought to be about 19yrs old. Heavy Sherry influence, there was orange, nuts, coffee, kind of like a Xmas cake. Stunning. I, and a few other trying it much preferred the 15 over the more expensive 18. 
 

Loch Lomond Perfectly Balanced: Another beauty. This was medium peat, fruity apples, pears, citrus lemon and a lovely spicy, oily finish. 46ABV - about £45. 
 

Now 2 I tried that I can’t afford 

Laphroaig 25 cask strength : 59.1ABV - £430. Serious peat, bourbon casks for the entire 25yrs. There was apples, honey, pepper and spice, and did I mention peat? Seriously bloody good. 
 

Octomore 11.3:  Even the peat level of the laphroaig 25 didn’t get close to this (you’re probably guessing I like peat) the peat level is 194PPM, for comparison the seriously peaty Laphroaig is about 45PPM. 

61.7ABV - £174 (so unlike the Laphroaig which I’ll never own, this could be a special occasion purchase) This is only about 5yrs old, and you can tell that, but in a good way. There is pear, honey, apricot, spice, and the peat whilst heavy is really complex for such a young age statement. The finish was really long and the spice and peat left a oily film around my gums which didn’t stop tiggling for about 30 second. Absolutely stunning, my favourite of the day. 
 

 

 

 

 

[Phil Silvers]

5 minutes ago, av1 said:

It was great mate. 
 

With everything being free inside it’s always very tempting at these events to try all the really expensive stuff (and I do try 1 or 2, but I tend to concentrate on the bottles that fall into a price bracket I’m happy to pay, I see very little point in falling in love with something I can’t afford. 
 

My favourites from the day. 
 

Kilchoman Machir Bay: It’s a Islay, so peaty, finished in bourbon and Sherry casks. Quite light and fruity and it was a really finish,  really nice and oily. 46ABV About £40

Kilchoman Sanaig: This was incredible. Like the Machir Bay finished in bourbon and Sherry casks, but the Sherry was more prominent. It was like dark berries, chocolate and pepper. Really spicy finish, lovely. 46ABV - About £48

Glendronach 15: Another stunner this is slightly more expensive at about £60 but worth ever penny. Good to read up on this distillery. It was mothballed about a decade ago, so it’s thought that the age statements are wrong, and the 15 is generally thought to be about 19yrs old. Heavy Sherry influence, there was orange, nuts, coffee, kind of like a Xmas cake. Stunning. I, and a few other trying it much preferred the 15 over the more expensive 18. 
 

Loch Lomond Perfectly Balanced: Another beauty. This was medium peat, fruity apples, pears, citrus lemon and a lovely spicy, oily finish. 46ABV - about £45. 
 

Now 2 I tried that I can’t afford 

Laphroaig 25 cask strength : 59.1ABV - £430. Serious peat, bourbon casks for the entire 25yrs. There was apples, honey, pepper and spice, and did I mention peat? Seriously bloody good. 
 

Octomore 11.3:  Even the peat level of the laphroaig 25 didn’t get close to this (you’re probably guessing I like peat) the peat level is 194PPM, for comparison the seriously peaty Laphroaig is about 45PPM. 

61.7ABV - £174 (so unlike the Laphroaig which I’ll never own, this could be a special occasion purchase) This is only about 5yrs old, and you can tell that, but in a good way. There is pear, honey, apricot, spice, and the peat whilst heavy is really complex for such a young age statement. The finish was really long and the spice and peat left a oily film around my gums which didn’t stop tiggling for about 30 second. Absolutely stunning, my favourite of the day. 
 

 

 

 

 

I remember you mentioning before that you prefer peated whiskies. I will watch some reviews of these. Cheers.

I bought a bottle of Glendronach15 when we were talking about it last year, still unopened, decided to keep for a special occasion.

You're right about tasting stuff that's silly money, why torture yourself, even doubling price to say 6070£ you can taste the quality,  so 500+ and even the super expensive must be unreal.

Do you ever watch the malt reviews guys, the 2 yanks? Worth a look if not, they buy fantasy bottles, ridiculous money and they open the buggers and drink them, fair play to them.

[Guest av1]

10 minutes ago, av1 said:

. 
 

Loch Lomond Perfectly Balanced: Another beauty. This was medium peat, fruity apples, pears, citrus lemon and a lovely spicy, oily finish. 46ABV - about £45. 
 

 

Just something I should have added to this  to avoid confusion in case anyone considers buying it. 
 

This is 12yrs old, And there is 3 12yrs in the range. 
 

12yr old fruity

12yr old Peaty

12yr old perfectly balanced (which as the name suggests is a balance of the first 2. 
 

[Guest av1]

7 minutes ago, Phil Silvers said:

.

Do you ever watch the malt reviews guys, the 2 yanks? Worth a look if not, they buy fantasy bottles, ridiculous money and they open the buggers and drink them, fair play to them.

I tend to watch a guy called Ralphy. He is absolutely brilliant. Whatever you’re considering buying he’s done an hour long review of it. 
 

I have a sheet with all his malt marks and link to each YouTube review. I can’t work out how to put the file here, so I’ll leave a link to my Google Drive file

 

Drive

Edited September 12, 2021 by av1

[Phil Silvers]

1 minute ago, av1 said:

I tend to watch a guy called Ralphy. He is absolutely brilliant. 
 

I have a sheet with all his malt marks and link to each YouTube review. I can’t work out how to put the file here, so I’ll leave a link to my Google Drive file

 

Drive

Ralpy is the best reviewer, encyclopedic experience 

[BOF]

For the Guinness drinkers.

 

[Davkaus]

[HanoiVillan]

2 hours ago, Davkaus said:

Oh my days, love the look of this.

Couple I'd not had before today:

Very old man style. Tasted very nutty. First few sips felt like a terrible mistake had been made, but it got more tolerable and by the end of a pint I didn't mind it. Probably won't seek it out again.

This one was called 'Oh Yeah! Polar Bear Pale' by Only With Love. A cloudy pale ale with a vanilla ice cream flavour to it. Absolutely delicious, would definitely have again, probably don't want too much in one sitting though.

'

[theboyangel]

Some birthday beverages! 
 

 

[Davkaus]

10 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

Oh my days, love the look of this.

I don't know quite what I expected, which is why I bought it. I didn't realise until I read a bit about the recipe after trying it, but they used toasted pilsner along with the marmite. The result is a very smokey ale, with a hint of marmite but then a big marmite hit as an aftertaste. Interesting, not unpleasant, but certainly not one I'd be picking out for every day drinking. I think I'll be picking up a couple though, mostly to bring out for a sample when drinking different styles with mates rather than just knocking a few beers back. It was something like £2 a can in Morrissons, it's worth a go, especially if you haven't had a smoked beer before.

It suffered a little by comparison because I've only ever had one smoked beer before, and it was this imperial smoked porter, which I think cost me about £8 a bottle. Not quite a fair comparison, but the only one I could make.

[fightoffyour]

I’m pissing Aperol

[fightoffyour]

Found a craft bar, turns out the Italians can actually make decent beer if you look hard enough.

Still the best one so far was Green Team by Cierzo from Zaragoza, but this was an absolute banger of a DIPA so it’s stiff competition.

Edited September 19, 2021 by fightoffyour

[theboyangel]

27 minutes ago, fightoffyour said:

Found a craft bar, turns out the Italians can actually make decent beer if you look hard enough.

Still the best one so far was Green Team by Cierzo from Zaragoza, but this was an absolute banger of a DIPA so it’s stiff competition.

Yes! Last time I was in Rome (with work) I was very shocked (and pleased) to find a load of microbrewery bars which served more than palatable beers. 
 

it totally wrecked my boss who was still so pissed the following day he couldn’t eat an ice cream without wearing most of it! 

Edited September 19, 2021 by theboyangel

[fightoffyour]

Hoły tits

[Follyfoot]

8 hours ago, fightoffyour said:

Hoły tits

Tease 

[fightoffyour]

2 hours ago, Follyfoot said:

Tease 

[Xela]

I wont' list all the ales i've supped this week as there have been loads! I'll just post my favourites (I had to make a note of them in my phone as I was losing track!)

I think my favourite four were as follows. Nothing new here, just solid and established choices:

 

[Seat68]

I have been on a diet for the past 3 weeks and haven't had a drink in that time, no plans to have any till a fortnight's time. I am using this thread as porn effectively.