Lagavulin 21

Ok, so I was walking down the road on one of my lunchtime walks and I was passing a fine establishment called Centre City Wines & Spirits. Outside there was a blackboard with a list of whiskies you can walk in and taste. First on the list was this exceptional drop! Lagavulin 21yo cask strength. Dang! 56.5%, bottle 6394 out of 6642, bottled in 2007. And interestingly it is in a 750ml bottle.

I saw the bottle on the shelf during an earlier visit, but at $700 a bottle it was a little out of my range. But luckily on this day the owner was selling 15ml shots for $15. Needless to say I was forced to consume many samples just to be sure I liked it.

And by the gods I liked it. The nose is even more peaty and a lot warmer the the 16yo. Flavorwise it is so much richer and more phenolic than the 16yo. It may well be the perfect drop. But I'm not ready to make that determination yet. I am off to Islay in September and maybe I will find it there!!

Surprising Old Malt Cask

Went out on a bit of a bender last night with my mate Ian. We stopped at one of our favorite bars, Matterhorn, for a few tasty drams and found this wee gem. A 15 yo Bowmore from the good folks at Old Malt Cask. A surprising drop, some might call it meaty, strong flavors, cask strength and damn tasty to boot. 1 of 357 bottles from the cask.

They have a fantastic selection of whisky so I say to you....

Go to Matterhorn, drink their Islay whisky and enjoy your life!

Salubrious Octomore

Well, last week I bought an exceptionally tasty drop from the good people at WhiskyGalore in Christchurch. It's Octomore from the fine people at Bruichladdich and 'by the gods' it's a salubrious drop of single malt!! The bottle you see before you is #223 of a run of 6000.

At 5 years old it's only been legal for 2 years and it's quite apparent from the nose which reminds me of some of the 2-3yo raw spirits, but significantly tastier. It is the peatiest (is that a word?) whisky ever made at 131 ppm. Yikes!

I took it to a mates place on Saturday night and we had our first taste and it was bloody lovely! With the exception of a good Lagavulin 16yo it is one of the finest whiskies I have ever tasted. There was a great deal of drooling and at one stage I did almost wet myself with sheer pleasure. (I'll be in my bunk!!! :) ), but that's a whole other blog.
Quite simply it was just an explosion of peat and flavor and at 63.5% alcohol, it made us very very happy to be alive.

Jesus. H. Christ IT IS GOOD!!

I have had to hide it away on a high shelf so I don't drink all! Yeah, good luck with that Bro!

Welcome to my new whisky Blog!

Well, I decided to start a blog on one of my very favourite things in this world. No not boobies............(that's two things).............. Single Malt Scotch Whisky of course! I discovered single malt around two years ago and I haven't looked back since.

My first drams were Glenmorangie 10yo, Glenfiddich 12yo and my all time favourite 'Lagavulin 16yo'. Don't hold the first two against me1

I have been attend monthly Whisky tastings and local whisky events here in NZ and I think I'll start reviewing some of the whiskies and events........because, well, I can!

But I'm not a total bigot, I will look at the odd vatted malt and possibly a blend or two. Damn, you have to love the "Water of Life".

P.S. I'm not an alcoholic. I can do without Single Malt............I just don't want to!!