My work mates bought me a bottle of The Dalmore 18yr as a birthday present. I think it is possibly the best dram I’ve ever had. And so it should be looking at the price but I strongly recommend everyone to try it if they get the chance. No, you can’t have a taste from my bottle!
To keep this on thread for Stuart… Stuart if you like Whisky then be aware that there are plenty of places selling it to the unwary tourist in Scotland at eye watering prices. Likewise, there are plenty of distilleries to visit who will sell you a bottle in the shop on the way out, at full list price. The best place is any large supermarket where you will find many malts and normally something on offer at say 20% discount.
When I went to Islay a few years ago I seem to remember that the Laphroaig distillery shop was good value but that Lagavulin was expensive.
Laphroaig offer you a free square foot of land (I assume they still do) when you buy a bottle. Visit the distillery and you can claim your rent of a dram. They also let me taste Laphroaig Quarter Cask which I think may have been fairly new at the time. Probably my favourite whisky and it used to be quite cheap too.
I have hiked in Iceland (Complete Guide to Traveling & Hiking in Iceland | KB1HQS)
and all throughout the US in various conditions so I am no stranger to hiking in crappy weather. I only hike in trail runners so I’m pretty used to wet feet.
Excellent point on the 3 new associations; I hadn’t considered that. Thanks for the info.
Thanks for the list Phil. I will take a close look at it. I like 2m activation’s so that will fun. Hopefully I won’t need a translator for my Texas accent. Maybe CW would be better
Stuart, we hiked the C2C in the early 20-teens, regrettably before I took up SOTA. It was a wonderful trip and I can send you some info and perspectives from our trip if you PM me an email address.
And I would characterize Laphroaig as liquid burnt turf — but somehow it works! Another dram, please.
My nearest Sainsbury’s had a choice of about thirty malts last time I checked, quite a change as some years ago there was only five. I think that the English drinkers have become more knowledgable about malts. OTOH it was Burns Night and I couldn’t find a haggis anywhere - we made do with faggots…
If its any help I know the start of the coast to coast very well. It starts about a mile from my house
Naturally I favour the western lake district and Wasdale which has a few summits. Far superior to other parts of the Lake District in my opinion, not least because of Gosforth pie shop. You could chop off a load of the C2C and hike from Wasdale to the busier central lakes.
I was going to say as much but didn’t want to offend anyone. It is certainly an aquired taste, one that I have not aquired. To my uneducated palate Laphroaig tastes just like diesel fuel.
It’s strongly flavoured. To educate your palate I would suggest regular drinking exercises involving half a bottle a week until you do like it The Quarter Cask is even better
There’s plenty that do little for me. Highland Park for one. I have tried several bottles just to make sure but it’s not that it’s bad but I doesn’t make me reach for another. For what a bottle of Highland Park costs, I can buy malts I like more. Penderyn, the Welsh whisky is nice. But it’s not £35/bottle nice. £25 is OK. So I’d buy it if I was shopping and it was cheap enough. I know I can find “better” whiskies for that kind of money.
