The Lemon Fool

UncleEbenezer wrote:I spoke too soon. Got my receipt from them this morning, and they don't have it. I took the precaution of saying no substitute: I don't know what they might substitute for an Islay single malt! Guess I'll have to try again another time - if the opportunity arises.

Still, it means I get to pay the cheaper delivery charge on a £37 general food order. And the Talisker hasn't run out yet, so it's not desperately urgent.

So if you keep ordering it, you get cheap delivery on small orders. Or possibly get the whisky. Win-win.

Scott.

swill453 wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:I spoke too soon. Got my receipt from them this morning, and they don't have it. I took the precaution of saying no substitute: I don't know what they might substitute for an Islay single malt! Guess I'll have to try again another time - if the opportunity arises.

Still, it means I get to pay the cheaper delivery charge on a £37 general food order. And the Talisker hasn't run out yet, so it's not desperately urgent.

So if you keep ordering it, you get cheap delivery on small orders. Or possibly get the whisky. Win-win.

Scott.

Tried again today, but it's no longer on offer.

Ordered a bottle of Ardbeg - which I know and love but haven't had for some time - instead. Islay classic. Being a fairly mainstream tipple, I expect they'll deliver this time. Which is, as you say, both an upside and a downside.

My leaving 'do' when I left Scotland to return to England had - on my instructions to the bar (and my card behind it...) - just Laphroaig 10 cask strength and Glenfarclas 105 - both around 60% ABV. Water was NOT provided. Just trying to be macho I suppose.

I now see the error of my ways and now dilute my Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin and occasionally Caol Ila about 50/50.
Fried tongue is now only something one might - in extremis - eat.

stewamax wrote:My leaving 'do' when I left Scotland to return to England had - on my instructions to the bar (and my card behind it...) - just Laphroaig 10 cask strength and Glenfarclas 105 - both around 60% ABV. Water was NOT provided. Just trying to be macho I suppose.

I now see the error of my ways and now dilute my Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin and occasionally Caol Ila about 50/50.
Fried tongue is now only something one might - in extremis - eat.

Oh my goodness. Worm, can, and all that.

Friend of mine goes mental when I add about 20% water to most of my single malts. He maintains a drop or two in a dram opens up the flavour as much as it needs. To my palate, Ardbeg needs about 20% water to bring out the best from it, any more and it just dilutes. A few drop or two as he advocates I find undetectable.

Talisker is the exception where like you, I find a shade less than 50/50 brings out the best. Laphroaig I find quite unpalatable under any circumstances. I've had a bottle in the cabinet for ten years now as I find it quite undrinkable. Mebbe I should try it again as my palate MUST have developed in the interim!

Hmmm edit to add: I now have a dram of Laphroaig 50/50 with water. Yes it's still disgusting! Should have used Coke.....

Mike4 wrote:

stewamax wrote:My leaving 'do' when I left Scotland to return to England had - on my instructions to the bar (and my card behind it...) - just Laphroaig 10 cask strength and Glenfarclas 105 - both around 60% ABV. Water was NOT provided. Just trying to be macho I suppose.

I now see the error of my ways and now dilute my Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin and occasionally Caol Ila about 50/50.
Fried tongue is now only something one might - in extremis - eat.

Oh my goodness. Worm, can, and all that.

Friend of mine goes mental when I add about 20% water to most of my single malts. He maintains a drop or two in a dram opens up the flavour as much as it needs. To my palate, Ardbeg needs about 20% water to bring out the best from it, any more and it just dilutes. A few drop or two as he advocates I find undetectable.

Talisker is the exception where like you, I find a shade less than 50/50 brings out the best. Laphroaig I find quite unpalatable under any circumstances. I've had a bottle in the cabinet for ten years now as I find it quite undrinkable. Mebbe I should try it again as my palate MUST have developed in the interim!

Hmmm edit to add: I now have a dram of Laphroaig 50/50 with water. Yes it's still disgusting! Should have used Coke.....

There is no accounting for taste. A bit like the thread on charities, each to his own. Personally I have nothing against Ardbeg, Lagavulin, or Laphroaig or for that matter Caol Ila although I think it is rather over rated. Water? As much or as little as you would like but usually to my taste 50/50 is about right. A lot of rubbish talked and written about all of this.

Dod

Mike4 wrote:Hmmm edit to add: I now have a dram of Laphroaig 50/50 with water. Yes it's still disgusting! Should have used Coke.....

Heathen! Stone him!

--kiloran

kiloran wrote:

Mike4 wrote:Hmmm edit to add: I now have a dram of Laphroaig 50/50 with water. Yes it's still disgusting! Should have used Coke.....

Heathen! Stone him!

--kiloran

Coke and water? how quaint!

TCP's probably a better substitute for Laphroaig

-sd

Mike4 wrote:Hmmm edit to add: I now have a dram of Laphroaig 50/50 with water. Yes it's still disgusting! Should have used Coke.....

Love Laphroaig.

Except, I once had a bottle that was indeed disgusting, and I sadly don't recollect which particular label that was. Which is why, in my order a couple of days ago (which has now arrived), I paid a few quid more for Ardbeg rather than buy Laphroaig and risk it being the wrong one.

I'll drink Laphroaig in a pub (on the rare occasions I drink any whisky there): much less at stake if I get the wrong one. And if I can see the bottle clearly enough, I may one day learn which Laphroaig it is I want to avoid vs which are good.

UncleEbenezer wrote:

Mike4 wrote:Hmmm edit to add: I now have a dram of Laphroaig 50/50 with water. Yes it's still disgusting! Should have used Coke.....

Love Laphroaig.

Except, I once had a bottle that was indeed disgusting, and I sadly don't recollect which particular label that was. Which is why, in my order a couple of days ago (which has now arrived), I paid a few quid more for Ardbeg rather than buy Laphroaig and risk it being the wrong one.

I'll drink Laphroaig in a pub (on the rare occasions I drink any whisky there): much less at stake if I get the wrong one. And if I can see the bottle clearly enough, I may one day learn which Laphroaig it is I want to avoid vs which are good.

Hmmmm intrigued now. I always imagined Laphroaig was a brand, I thought it would be all the same! Or at least if the label says Laphroaig aged 10 years, it will all be the same. Checking my own bottle of the stuff it looks similar to the pic below from their Wikipedia page, but on closer inspection it is slightly different in almost every respect.







And here is my own bottle, containing the stuff I don't like:

It is a bit of a myth that all whiskies even with the same label will taste exactly the same. Indeed, Dewar's White Label used to make that a marketing point of their whisky. 'It never varies' was their slogan. I have no idea if they still use it as I have not seen it for years.

Dod

Mike4 wrote:I always imagined Laphroaig was a brand, I thought it would be all the same

Let "Talisker Storm" be a warning to you

-sd

servodude wrote:

Mike4 wrote:I always imagined Laphroaig was a brand, I thought it would be all the same

Let "Talisker Storm" be a warning to you

-sd

What is Talisker Storm?

(recently finished a bottle of very pleasant Talisker - not Storm).

UncleEbenezer wrote:

servodude wrote:

Mike4 wrote:I always imagined Laphroaig was a brand, I thought it would be all the same

Let "Talisker Storm" be a warning to you

-sd

What is Talisker Storm?

(recently finished a bottle of very pleasant Talisker - not Storm).

I think Storm is Gaelic for "undermining your brand with a no-age"
- it's bland - it's not Talisker
-sd

Mike4 wrote:Hmmmm intrigued now. I always imagined Laphroaig was a brand, I thought it would be all the same! Or at least if the label says Laphroaig aged 10 years, it will all be the same. Checking my own bottle of the stuff it looks similar to the pic below from their Wikipedia page, but on closer inspection it is slightly different in almost every respect.

Both ten years, the differences are subtle. I'd be surprised if those were substantially different.

I have an idea it may have been a ten-year I didn't like, but I'm not sure. Hence the hesitancy (and the Ardbeg - in the absence of an option for my all-time favourite Lagavulin).

Damn, just realised. My new bottle is the exact subject of this thread!

UncleEbenezer wrote:

servodude wrote:

Mike4 wrote:I always imagined Laphroaig was a brand, I thought it would be all the same

Let "Talisker Storm" be a warning to you

-sd

What is Talisker Storm?

(recently finished a bottle of very pleasant Talisker - not Storm).

It is a most ghastly trap, designed for the unwary.

In Tesco etc you'll find loads of it, next to the space on the shelf where the sold-out Talisker should be. The unwary buy it thinking it can't be that different from proper Talisker, a mistake they only make once...

DAMHIK

This thread has motivated me to revisit the back of my whisky archive where I remember having a very pleasant 1964 (released 1996) Ardbeg. I was bought this as a birthday present in the late 90's, it probably cost around £100 at the time. Checking today I find that the replacement cost would be around £1500.

Not a bad investment if I hadn't drunk half of it.

PhaseThree wrote:This thread has motivated me to revisit the back of my whisky archive where I remember having a very pleasant 1964 (released 1996) Ardbeg. I was bought this as a birthday present in the late 90's, it probably cost around £100 at the time. Checking today I find that the replacement cost would be around £1500.

Not a bad investment if I hadn't drunk half of it.

Who drank the other half?

Whoever spent that much on a birthday present must've expected you to appreciate it. Perhaps together?

UncleEbenezer wrote:

PhaseThree wrote:This thread has motivated me to revisit the back of my whisky archive where I remember having a very pleasant 1964 (released 1996) Ardbeg. I was bought this as a birthday present in the late 90's, it probably cost around £100 at the time. Checking today I find that the replacement cost would be around £1500.

Not a bad investment if I hadn't drunk half of it.

Who drank the other half?

Whoever spent that much on a birthday present must've expected you to appreciate it. Perhaps together?

They might also be a bit disappointed that 22 years later, it still hasn't been drunk. Or maybe they won't!

Mike4 wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:

PhaseThree wrote:This thread has motivated me to revisit the back of my whisky archive where I remember having a very pleasant 1964 (released 1996) Ardbeg. I was bought this as a birthday present in the late 90's, it probably cost around £100 at the time. Checking today I find that the replacement cost would be around £1500.

Not a bad investment if I hadn't drunk half of it.

Who drank the other half?

Whoever spent that much on a birthday present must've expected you to appreciate it. Perhaps together?

They might also be a bit disappointed that 22 years later, it still hasn't been drunk. Or maybe they won't!

It is a great disappointment to me that Mrs P3 doesn't enjoy Ardbeg or indeed much whisky. Sadly I am left to finish this bottle myself (Special occasions only).

The real problem bottles are an unopened Port Ellen - 14th release.
..... and a half drunk bottle of Black Bowmore 1964 second edition, also a birthday present.

I'll leave you to google the current value of last two bottles, but the latter would have help significantly towards the retirement fund if it was still sealed.

PhaseThree wrote:I'll leave you to google the current value of last two bottles, but the latter would have help significantly towards the retirement fund if it was still sealed.

MiL's ex-gardener's real job is at a Diageo distillery. As a perk, they get access to special offers/ limited releases. His pension is in his loft . If his house ever catches fire it will require a hell of a lot of engines, and will produce some seriously amazing smells. I have no idea what his insurance looks like, but I fear for the worst.