Just received this information:

Dear Friends,

I am writing today because I wanted you to be the first to know that, after much thought, I have decided that the time has come for me to step down as Laphroaig’s Distillery Manager. For a long time, I’ve been travelling between Islay and the mainland to be with my family. Especially after the last two years we’ve all experienced, I’ve decided to make a permanent move to be closer to them and to take up a new challenge at an independent distillery company, so I will be relocating from Islay in mid-November.

As you can imagine, this was not an easy decision for me. I have been at Laphroaig for more than a quarter century, and I’m proud to have been the longest-serving Distillery Manager in its history. Following in the footsteps of legends like Ian Hunter and Bessie Williamson has been the privilege of my life.

More than anything, I would like to thank the Friends of Laphroaig for all your support throughout my 27 years at Laphroaig and my nearly 16 years as Distillery Manager.

It’s support that comes in all sorts of forms - from helping me grow the visitor experience at the distillery, supporting the creation of core whiskies in our range, sharing your ideas on what would make good Cairdeas bottlings, always being honest about how you would like Laphroaig to be. Over the years, we have created a Laphroaig tartan, celebrated together at our bicentennial events all around the world, sung with the Laphroaig choir, met on Islay at Feis, and throughout the year, and best of all, we’ve shared many drams of Laphroaig together.

Laphroaig is an amazing whisky and brand that has and will continue to be part of my life, just as Islay will. I will always remain a Friend of Laphroaig myself and will continue to come back to visit my plot and collect some rent.

I am also sure that thanks to your passion and loyalty, Laphroaig will remain the most renowned and beloved peated single malt on the planet and will continue to go from strength to strength. Over the next two months, I’ll be working closely with our expert Distillery team to hand over the reins and a new Distillery Manager will be announced in due course. I know you will welcome them with open arms, as you welcomed me.

It’s an honour to call myself a Friend, and I wish all of you the very best.

Sláinte.

I hope I don't violate any rules. What are your thoughts on that?

I will be heading to Ireland next June and taking a day trip to Islay. Do the distilleries have any exclusive or harder to come by bottlings available to purchase?

If not, any recommendations on a good place to get some unique stuff?

Hi everyone,

I'm about to start work on a 10th edition of my Whisky Map of Scotland and I need your valuble opinions please.

My map here features "Thirty of the oldest, most distinguished, and highly-regarded, malt distilleries in Scotland" with their logos.

Currently, they are:

1. Aberlour
2. Ardbeg
3. Auchentoshan
4. Balblair
5. Balvenie
6. BenRiach
7. Bowmore
8. Bruichladdich
9. Bunnahabhain
10. Dalmore
11. Edradour
12. Fettercairn
13. Glen Garioch
14. Glendronach
15. Glenfarclas
16. Glenfiddich
17. Glenlivet
18. Glenmorangie
19. Highland Park
20. Jura
21. Lagavulin
22. Laphroaig
23. Macallan
24. Milton-duff
25. Old Pulteney
26. Royal Brackla
27. Springbank
28. Strathisla
29. Talisker
30. Tobermory

Please let me know - which one(s) might you remove, and which distillery would you add in its place?

This isn't just about your favourites, or a distillery making one particularly amazing award-winning expression. It's about which distilleries are consistently good across their range, are well-known, and well-respected among Scotch aficionados. Also, some weight is given to those who are still independently owned or semi-independent collectives. I also need to make sure I have some from each region.

Thanks so much!

Edit: my quick trigger finger posted this without providing any background info. Apologies.

Quickly, I run a Scotch pool w my buddies. We've narrowed down to 2 choices seen here. We've pooled enough funds for either bottle so - and it feels weird typing this - money is not an issue, but I am curious to see others thoughts and reviews. Laph 28 or Oban 21?

For reference, here are a few bottles we've gotten previously:

HP25 HP30 Talisker 30 Glenfarclas 40 Glendronach 21 Ardbeg ANB Redbreast 16CS Compassbox Circus Hakushu 18 Kavalan VB Kavalan Fino

So I started to explore scotch about 10 yrs ago. My first dive just happened to be Lagavulin 16. I was overwhelmed by the ash and peat flavours at first as expected, but the bottle was a gift so I let it sit for a while and sipped a glass every now and then. As the bottle opened up it wasn't as rough to me, almost got sweeter with time. I don't know if I got desensitized to peat or the bottle oxidated, but before I knew it I could have Lag 16 as a daily dram without batting an eye to the peat. Since then I tried other regions but stuck with distilleries that had at least a modicum of smoke to its flavour (Deanston, JW Green, Talisker, Loch Lomond, AnCnoc, Bruichladdie) but for some reason I never strayed to other Islay besides Bunnahabhain. Well fast forward to last year I stocked up on Laphroaig 10 and Ardbeg 10 and struggled to finish them both. For the life of me I just don't enjoy them as much as I do Lagavulin 16. Is my palette picky? Maybe there are notes in Laph and Ardbeg I don't like as much? Is it the age?

Been lurking for a while and tried the classics without venturing too far. I'm looking for something peaty with a twist, but there are so many options and I'd like to hear people's thoughts.

I've tried the following and enjoyed them all for different reasons.

Caol Ila 12 Takisker 10 Springbank 10 Ardbeg Uigedail Ardbeg 10 Bunnahabhain 12 Port Charlotte 10 Laphraoig Select / 10 / QC

I didn't really love: Glenmorangie 10 Arberlour 12 Jura 10

I've read the malt recommendations and am starting to lean more towards cask strength expressions, so can you shoot me some ideas of what to get with my Christmas money?

Based in UK, budget £50-100 ish...

I have tried about three dozen Scotches. That's not much compared to many Scotch enthusiasts, but I am starting to develop a sense for what I like and don't like. However, since there are so many distilleries, and the same distillery can produce different profiles, knowing what I enjoy only goes so far in helping me find new drams. I think it's time to get some opinions.

What distilleries produce this personal favorite profile...

The Scotches I've enjoyed most have had all of the following qualities:

1. A strong fruit profile, on notes such as candied orange peel, farmers' market dried stone fruit, mango leather, guava, etc.
2. Together with rich, rustic notes such as pipe tobacco, wood smoke, leather, or dark chocolate. (I'm especially partial to wood smoke).
3. Subtle or no notes of rubber, maritime, medicine, nor animal tallow.
4. Low or no oak spice, low heat.

For context, I've encountered this profile in (samples of) whiskies like Laphroaig 1998 by The Whisky Exchange, Strathisla 1972 by G&M, and Glen Grant 1962 by G&M. What other distilleries have this profile, and does this ever appear in whiskies younger than 20 years, or in whiskies not aged in sherry casks?

Three more profiles that I like...

For clarification, each line that follows is a separate profile, or rather "profile blueprint" since I'm being intentionally general.

1. Maritime notes and citrus, but without a particularly sweet peat character.
2. Fruit jelly with light spice.
3. Grilled apples with medicinal character.

I've found these profiles in bottles of Bowmore, Glenfarclas, and Laphroaig respectively. I suppose Talisker is a distillery I should look into. But what else?

Hi all,

Getting a bonus paid out that is more substantial than expected. Looking to get a few 'special occasion' bottles to celebrate. I'm looking for the bottles that you wouldn't normally buy on a price-value scale, but you can understand quite well why they cost a pretty penny.

My favorite bottles to date have been

• Balvenie 15y Single Barrel Sherry Cask, (sweet nuances and lovely full, rich charcoal notes at the end)
• Aberlour Abunadh b63, (pralines and candied walnuts the most prominent to me here)
• Bunnahabhain 12, (wallet leather and dried dark fruits - the lovely dark and deepness of Islay without much smoke)
• one of the slightly older Glenfarclas (can't remember which) - rich, velvety fruit.
• GlenDronach 18, though I can't remember why I liked it so much

Looking to get 3 or 4 bottles in the $130-300 range. Not at all against one of those being a peated/smokey Islay, but I despise the iodine/sulfur note of Lagavulin, Laphroaig. Islays I've enjoyed best are Talisker 10 (salty/maritime note), obviously Bunnahabhain, and Ardbeg An Oa (rich, fruity smoke). Benriach's Smoky 10 had nice campfire notes. Would be looking for more of a rich, indulgent Islay with campfire notes than a smokeshow.

Favorite cask-finished whiskey has been from the States - Penelope Distillery's Ximenez Brandy and Cognac finished, had a lovely sweet and bright spice note to it - cinnamon or sweet chai - that I was a big fan of, so bonus points for anyone who can recommend a cognac/brandy barrel oriented bottle :)

I'm currently thinking Balvenie 21y Portwood and Bunnahabhain 18.

Location: NYC.

What suggestions have ye?

When I first got into whisky - especially the big, smoky Islay punchers - I found I was very, very receptive to lots of different tastes and nuances. First time I had an Arbeg or a Laphroaig it was like a whole new world opened up.

A year or so into my scotch journey I’m firmly an Islay lover. If there’s no big punchy peat, it just doesn’t float my boat. I’ve explored lots of bottlings, that’s just my gig.

But what I’m finding is that I’ve lost a lot of the taste for some of the nuanced flavour profiles of late. A lot of things just taste to me like Caol Ila. That citric, not particularly smoky, saline peat.

In short, I’m really missing what made me fall in love with some of my beloved distilleries. I have days where I can’t sort of pick hints back up again, but fewer and farther between.

It may be that I need a break, or i drink too frequently (not to excess or past a point where it becomes an issue, no worry there) - any thoughts? Does anyone else have dry weeks / months?

My journey into the world of peated and unpeated Islay scotch has been predominantly led by bottles from the main distilleries. My current line-up includes your standard Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Port Charlotte, Bunnahabhain, Kilchoman etc. However, after trying a few exceptional IB's like the Artful Dodger 9 year Caol Ila, and with the Boutique-y Whiskey advent calendar on the way, I would love some suggestions on some bottlings away from the main line-ups. For reference, I have yet to find an Islay (peated or un-peated) that I do not like (although I find the Uk Laphroaig 10 at 40% for example a bit lacking). Any suggestions for some bottlings under £100 or so would be greatly appreciated.

Hello Scotch aficionados!

Historically, I've been a wine/beer drinker and my go-to fancy whisky has always been Johnnie Walker Blue (I know I know...). After reading through many old posts on this sub, I'm inspired to dive into this new world of Scotch and broaden my view of what a good whisky is.

Based on the recommendation from another post, I've ordered a bottle of Glenmorangie 14 Quinta Ruban as my first entry level bang for buck bottle. All I know right now is that I like the taste of JW blue because it is smooth and smoky. I've been watching a lot of Youtube top 5 or 10 beginners bottles and feel a bit overwhelmed. I also trust Reddit way more :)

That's not much to go on, but I was wondering if any of you could please steer me to some similar distilleries/regions or anything else you might recommend? Hopefully in a few years I'll have my own whisky collection hidden behind a bookcase too! Thanks in advance