Stocking up on this: As Laphroig have announced they aren't making any more! http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...d/news-story/0b00a844d1d1b43e6cfe5e3fd86379a8
Nooooooooooooooooooo............ Is it just the 18YO? I can't see the story (not a subscriber). PS: You're not just pimpin' for The Australian are you?
Well, you know my love for all things Rupert Murdoch! More likely to be pimping for The Saturday Paper Here’s a chilling scenario for a Scotch aficionado: you head to your local bottle shop, anticipating the purchase of your favourite 12-year-old whisky, only to discover it’s nowhere to be found. You search high and low, eventually settling for a similar but slightly different (aka suspect) bottle. As a result of high worldwide demand and a finite supply of single-malt Scotch — the production of a single distillery, which can be blended only with water, not other whiskies — some drinkers’ preferred spirits are disappearing. Lately, brands have been replacing the familiar 10, 12 and 18-year-old range with whiskies that have no stated ages. Though aged — as all Scotch must be, by law, for at least three years — these “ageless” whiskies are younger than the whiskies they’re replacing and can be released without hitting a specified maturity. It was really only in the 1960s that single malts started to be sold in the US and in the 1990s that they began to be marketed as superior to blended whiskies (and priced accordingly), with age cited as a key indicator of quality. Perhaps this strategy was too successful. Now, with hundreds of Scotches available, selecting a bottle without a number to latch on to can be destabilising. While age is no guarantee of quality — many experts believe excessive time in the barrel leads to too much tannic wood flavour — in the absence of that reference point, brands must bank on consumers being educated enough to know what they like and select accordingly. “I think you could argue from one perspective that consumers of single malts have become a bit more sophisticated than they were and don’t necessarily need to be given just numbers as a means of differentiating between different types and qualities of product,” said Nick Morgan, head of whisky outreach for Diageo. The company owns 28 Scotch distilleries, including Talisker, Oban and Lagavulin, and is currently ageing eight million casks in its warehouses. The move away from age statements allows a brand much greater flexibility and the ability to increase supply without waiting years for stocks to age. “Age statements give you no flexibility whatsoever,” Morgan says. “They also tie your hands behind your back in terms of innovation. And innovation has always been the lifeblood of the Scotch whisky category.” Take, for instance, Laphroaig 18-Year-Old. A few months ago the brand announced that what’s currently housed in its distributor warehouses and available in stores will be it for the foreseeable future. A number of different limited-edition whiskies will take its place. Even more unsettling, the brand says it will no longer produce the standard range of whiskies and will, with the exception of the best-selling 10-Year-Old, make different spirits available at different times depending upon supply. In 2012 (you might want to sit down for this one), the Macallan replaced its 10, 12 and 15-year-olds in many markets around the world with a series of ageless malts. While the brand maintains it has no plans to do the same in the US, it may have little choice if demand continues to rise. It’s little wonder that the Scotch whisky industry as a whole can’t keep up with demand for single malt. According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, sales of single malt in the US rose by an astonishing 149 per cent from 2002 to 2014. And the US spends more on single malts than any other country. After decades of losing market share to vodka, wine and beer, brown spirits have been rediscovered by Americans, and producers have flooded the market with a dizzying array of them — cashing in on a growing fascination with traditionally made and artisanal products. Back in the late 1990s, however, when today’s 18-year-old whiskies were distilled and set aside in barrels to age, forecasts for the volume of single malt that drinkers would demand in 2015 and beyond were relatively modest. Many popular single malts are no longer sold to blenders or independent bottlers. Some brands have gone so far as to buy back single-malt stocks from blenders. A number of distilleries are running around the clock; others have expanded their facilities. But the effect of these moves won’t be felt for years. In the meantime, many outstanding 10, 12 and 15-year-olds may go the way of the dodo. Lovers of aged Scotch will, at the very least, need time to adjust — and whisky to drink while they do. -------- I should say, the good Aussie distilleries have been doing great NAS whiskey for a while. In part because the weather conditions here actually age the whiskey faster. 3 yrs might be the equivalent of 8. But distilleries don't want to say "3 years" as that makes people think it will be nasty. Hence, NAS.
I have only recently delved into single malt scotches. I do remember something delicious some decades ago but my general opinion of whiskey was formed early and it was not pleasant. But recently I started tasting regions and though I liked a number of them, Islay is what I kept coming back to. I haven't splurged on an 18 yet though. Maybe I won't be able to.
Heck, I might have to post this dusty bottle on the sales forum (kidding mods) . Was a gift but not my flavor.
Nice gift! Mine comes out once in a while for a wee dram... Bowmore is long one - it was good too...but the 30 YO Laphroaig is superb.
I will be genuinely surprised if this isn't absolutely terrible, but I was stocking up for the Daytona 24hr today and curiosity got the best of me
Well it's just past 5pm here so I'm waving my own green flag... Surprisingly not disgusting! It's made with bourbon whereas I prefer rye Manhattans, but I won't mind drinking this here & there.
Went to Tiffin tonight - and Indian restaurant. Brought a '99 Raphet Gevrey-Chambertin. Second bottle from Raphet, the other being a '96, and we won't be looking for more from that producer.
Been going a bit retro lately with some cocktails...White Russian with some dark chocolate...this was my drink in the 80's... And Gin martini with some marinated olives...
2014 Daou Cab. A QPR favorite. 2000 and 2001 were vintages of a slightly softer profile so it should be pretty good now. Are you sure the Barolo is ready? it might need another decade or so.
Probably needs more time.. Old style barolo almost always does.. I had a '72 Lafarge Volnay Clos des Chenes a few years ago that was barely reaching its prime. I still think about that bottle often. Burgundy is (at least to me) the pinnacle of what wine can be.
I made a pretty damned tasty Rusty Bulleit recently. Bulleit bourbon, lime juice, ginger beer, and bitters.
Amen brotha! We popped open a 1999 Ponsot Chapelle-Chambertin for dinner last night. It was VERY nice, just more acidic than we hoped for. My guess is that it needs just a few more years because the '95 is near perfect currently. Couldn't resist trying one bottle to see where it was in it's evolution. The rest will sit in the Danby while we finish the '95.
