Laphroaig is great. The regular 10 year is a screaming deal at ~$40. The cask strength is also a banger.

Ardbeg 10 is nice. Corry is fun. The Oogie is one of my all time faves.

Lagavulin 16 is hard to beat for the under $60 I pay in CA. The 12 year annual release is pricier but very good. The 8 yr is nice too.

Caol Ila and Talisker are less intense and good stuff.

Springbank is another fave. Not nearly as intense but can be really special. The 12yr cask strength is where it's at.

If you want a tun of peat and can spend the Octomore line from Bruichladdich really ramps it up.

On the bargain end and really rather unrefined is Finlaggen. I get it at Trader Joes for $20. It's from one of the big boys on Islay and subject of much guesswork as to who makes it. It's like getting punched in the face with a muddy ashtray that's on fire.

quote:

Originally posted by C L Wilkins:
Peaty scotch is not for every one. It truly is an acquired taste. For example, the first time I tried Talisker it tasted like mecurochome, with a hint of brake fluid.

CW

I don't know if it is 'acquired' or not but for some reason it is a taste I enjoyed right off the bat. YMMV

Anything Kilchoman. They bottle pure magic and heaven in a bottle.

Lagavulin 8 and 12 are amazing, way better than 16, sadly 12 is stupid expensive.

Laphrioag Cask Strength and Quarter cask are exquisite.

Ardbeg An Oa, Corryvreckan, and UIegedall are great if you want something seriously peaty.

For the milder side Ardmore and Highland Park--though to be fair I prefer those spirits in the spring and summer. They just seem better than during the fall/winter.

If ye kin nae taste the ocean, it's nae Scotch....

my kid got me a bottle of Lagavulin last Christmas.....

let me attempt to describe it....

imagine a bog with cold dark tarry waters lapping the moss, where a kilt clad man walks his boot thru the puddle and stops so that his soggy foot might cool for a few; while the toe-jam imparts a smell into the water...then someone takes that bogwater and bottles it...but first the bog water is heated under an old tire that is burning to sterilize the creatures in it....

this


this right here

is the Lagavulin



[shudders]

(and I like Scotch Whisky)

I took a bottle of Laphroiag to my last Holiday Ball, before I retired.

I shared it with my infantry brothers.

I went down in history as 'that asshole who tried to make us drink liquid smoke.'

I still drink it, with much appreciation.

Laphroaig is by far my favorite.