Today marks a Road to Dram first. Not the blind tasting part. I have used blind tastings to close each section of my whisky journey a few times, the last for entry-level sherried whiskies. Today’s entry-level peated whisky blind tasting is no different. No, this is a first because it is my first time using video as media. Moving forward, I plan to rap up the upcoming sections of my journey with a video blind.
Like every new adventure, the first try always resembles the first pancake. It’s not pretty, but it’s a good practice round. I already see so much that could have been improved, but rather than refilm the whole thing and lose the spontaneity I decided to take the plunge and publish it. And here it is in all its “glory”, my first video on blind tasting entry-level peated whisky.
I filmed the video a few weeks back and took a while to edit it. Looking at it now, there are a few things that I would have liked to add.
Port Charlotte 10 is, on a very personal taste level, my favourite of the bunch, but I have to say that Ardbeg 10 is the most “classical” Islay profile of the bunch and it is the bottle I would suggest new drinkers try first, together with Caol Ila 12. I am happy this under-hyped 43% abv bott;e did so well. Call me a Coal Ila fanboy if you wish, this is just a classic for me. The Ardbeg Wee Beastie really threw me for a loop, it came across as a lot gentler and fruitier than I recalled.
The blind was also eye-opening, allowing me to re-evaluate some previous reviews. I liked the Lagavulin 8 more than I did when I tried it on its own a few times. Not enough to change the 6 I assigned to it – it still comes across as hot and young on the palate- but enough to give it a place in my dram rotation. On the other hand, the Longrow Peated lost a bit of shine compared to the other bottles, with more youth showing in the blind. Enough to reduce its score to a 6, instead of the original 7.
In the video, I only mentioned my top 3. In case anyone is curious, this is my full standing: 1) Port Charlotte 10, 2) Ardbeg 10, 3) Caol Ila 12, 4) Ardbeg Wee Beastie 5) Lagavulin 8, 6) Longrow Peated, 7) Ledaig 10, 8) Laphroaig 10. The first two are ina group of their own. From 3rd to 7th, the separation is a matter of taste more than one of quality. And enough said about my disappointment with Laphroaig 10.
You can check any of the individual reviews for the 8 whiskies, here are the links:
I would love to hear your feedback on the blind and on my ranking. What are your favourites among these 8 peated whiskies? Stay tuned for the next review, where I’ll dive into the entry-level bottles of the three Wee Toon’s distilleries.
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