Just went back and found my first post in this thread. A lot has happened in not quite the year since I first posted last July:
-Got through the
JW Black and won't go back to it.
-More on
Sheildaig: turns out it's a Total Wine brand so I felt a little hoodwinked, but such is the landscape of whisk(e)y. I finally did get to try their 'Islay' blend and it was way off of what I was looking for, so I went back to
Sir Edward's, which turns out is a French company. Go figure.
-Was able to justify buying a bottle of
Lagavulin 16 for my birthday, and it was everything I had hoped. It was so different from what I was expecting but it was perfect nonetheless. This is when I realized I was an Islay guy. It's been tough stretching it out but I have just enough left that I plan on finishing it one night soon when the cicadas are out if full throat.
-I also got a bottle of
JW Red for my birthday. Not a fan but I'll have a dram when the mood hits me.
-In my quest to educate myself, I stumbled upon The Whiskey Tribe, these two dudes in Austin who review different brands and seem to have a good time and don't take themselves too seriously. They've been informative, but they also had too much influence on me when I first started watching them, as their review of Dewar's Ilegal (regular Dewar's aged in mezcal barrells) motivated me to buying a bottle. I liked it just fine, but I didn't like that I was so easily moved to action.
-I got a bottle of
Smokehead as a Christmas present from my wife; guess my anxiety about how she would handle my new hobby was a little overblown. Never heard of it before and while I didn't like it much at first, it grew on my by the end of the bottle. Probably wouldn't buy it again as it's still out of my comfort price range, but I wouldn't pass on it if offered. Once I got used to it, it compared favorably to Lagavulin 16. I also got a bottle of
Tullamore Dew from a relative, so my collection had grown quickly by the end of the year.
-Thanks to a very generous Christmas present from my parents, I was able to try a few other brands, keeping in the ~$20 range. I have also tried
Lang's Full and Smoky (At $15, it scratches the itch for smoky/peaty scotch),
Shieldaig Highland (one of the staff at Total Wine suggested it as approximating Islay more than their Islay model, and she was right. At ~$21 it's one of my go-to's), and another brand of questionable parentage,
For Peat's Sake. It goes for ~$20 at my local Total Wine so it's another of my go-to's).
-My biggest misstep so far was a bargain-basement brand called
Highland Bird. I was blinded by the low price--$17.99 for 1.5L and that it was supposed to have a toffee-like flavor profile. If that was toffee, I guess I don't really like toffee. I also tried
Kavanagh's Bourbon Barrel Finished Irish Whisky and was disappointed in that as well.
At this point, I've accepted that I prefer Islay whiskys and for my budget, the Shieldaig Highland and For Peat's Sake are good enough for me to return to, and I'll try to pick up more Lagavulin when I get the chance, and hopefully
Laphroiag as well. I think I enjoy smelling them as much as I do drinking them; I find myself sniffing the glass long after I've emptied it. Also, since my father's side of the family supposedly came from the Isle of Skye, so if we ever get together with his side of the family again, I'm going to bring a bottle of
Talisker.
if I spend that much in one purchase, no matter how long it lasts, and I haven't even been a drinker since we started dating, so that's even more of a reason to be cautious.
