Wow, very cool. Thanks to Gregor I got to try a few of these well in advance of the UK release and I was pretty surprised how easy drinking that Lagavulin was. The range has something for everyone, and I think prices have been fair, more or less. However, as long as I can get a Lagavulin and a Clynelish I'll be happy. The only repackaged expressions are Royal Lochnagar and Cardhu Gold Reserve as neither are currently distributed in the US. All others are unique for this release. Good summary and giveaway idea.
One of the better reviews of the whiskys. once you got a few whiskys in you became quite relaxed and well spoken. I just picked myself up the Lagavulin GoT 9, pretty excited to try it out tomorrow during the premiere.
I don't think Talisker chill filters their whisky eaither but sipper socal club said they did. I love Sipper socal club's reviews but I agree with you they don't chill filter in my opinion. I have read the cut off point for chill filtration was 44% but it maybe somewhere in the 45% range. The Singleton bottle I get a chocolate covered mint note and I have never had that in any whisky so that saves it for me. I would rate it a bit higher then you. My favorite is the Clynelish!!! I bought 5 bottles of it! lol The stuff is amazing and im a huge fan of the 14 and all other Clynelish bottlings.
@@WhiskyInThe6 BT chill filters OWA at 107 proof unless it's specifically ordered that way for a store pick. I think the rule of thumb is to assume it is unless stated on the bottle that it isn't.
I remember when this set was so hyped to the point that people were spending crazy amounts for the whole set online. This was of course prior to the final season of GOT. As of today, I can find all of these at pretty much every store and they cant push it out of the door. I certainly think the lackluster series season dropped the demand for this set, personally
Nice job! I bought the Lagavulin, wasn't able to find the Clynelish, probably should still buy / try the Talisker. These range / run down videos provide a lot of value to the community because most people can't afford to try them all so they want to focus their money on the best or the best for the money.
Great job Rob...My favorite was Lagavulin 9 with the Clynelish not far behind. The Royal Lochnagar had a great nose but the palate fell very short in comparison, 40% avb ruins things imho...😏
Being a fan of Lagavulin, Clynelish, Dalwhinnie, and Talisker, those are the ones that I would probably enjoy the most from the set. I am not a collector. I am a drinker. Being a drinker, I like to try as many whiskies as I can, so of course I'd like to try all of them, and I have tried examples from all of the distilleries represented... Knowing nothing about Game Of Thrones, but knowing a bit about whisky, I would tend to choose official bottlings from the distilleries represented here over the GoT editions if I had to choose between either one or the other, and could take only one of the two home. This is because from all of the reviews that I have seen, these special bottlings seem to fall short of the official bottlings from the same distilleries either in age, quality, or ABV. I'm just waiting for Diageo to come out with a Disney Collection, the Mickey Mouse whisky being the most prestigious and coveted, the Bambi being the most skittish, and the Dumbo flying the highest with the highest ABV
Hey Rob! I agree with your favorites! Mine is the Lagavulin. I own my favorites of this lineup so definitely give it to someone who wasn't able to get these. Cheers buddy and great job!
4 of these (Clynelish, Royal Lochnager, Talisker, and Oban) aren't even available in Ontario although on the LCBO site they will allow you to view a photo of them for no charge. Judging by the price differences between here and in the U.S you would have to be a glutton for punishment to purchase them in Ontario. Nice review and generous of you to offer samples. I would be interested in trying the Talisker, Oban and Clynelish.
Love that you’re going to do a whisky after the thrones for all the episodes, I’m a fan boy of GoT (books and shows) so got the whole set already. And the Laga definitely my fav, can’t go wrong with the peat! Cheers
Simply incredible, great job Rob on completely reviewing the entire GOT lineup in one night. Of all of them I too would go for the Lagavulin 9, since peat is definitely in my wheelhouse. Cheers brother on great drams and reviews!
Shout out to Rob. Great reviews of the GoT lineup. Now only if they were more readily available! The Lannister Lagavulin is terrific and I would love to try some of the others.
I had hope the Oban would be nice with its cool black bottle, but thanks to you Rob I guess I wont spend my money on it. Because of its age statement and constant quality, the lag9 it is for me if the price is fair when it comes in Quebec. Very very nice of you to offer this samples collection.
Hey Rob, thanks for the awesome, honest rundown. 1. I've only tried the Talisker and clynelish and I slightly prefer the latter. 2. I thought the Talisker was good, but more of a sweet beginner Talisker that didn't punch you like a typical dram from them. 3. I think you didn't detect as much peat on the lag nose because you had just had the Talisker prior. I think our experience with peated Scotch has allowed our nose to acclimate to the peat and block it out pretty quickly. Cheers
You think saving up on these babies and leaving it sealed will be great for collection or i should just start drinking them? P.s. found only 6 after searching for a year.
I would love to try the glenlivet and the talisker. I picked up the Johnnie Walker one.. meh but I do enjoy the glenlivet blends so far. Talisker 10 year old was nice to.. anyway good luck to me! Cheers Rob
I've been holding a series of whiskey tastings for my colleagues based on region. A couple of weeks ago, we focused on the northern Highlands: Balblair 1999, Clynelish 14, Dalmore 12, Old Pulteney 12, and Wolfburn Morven. As a bonus, I offered people the Clynelish Reserve Game of Thrones edition. It was HUGELY popular. Much to my surprise, nearly everyone preferred it to the 14. The GOT Clynelish Reserve and Wolfburn Morven were the most frequently cited as favorites.
Since I am mostly a peat fan, Lagavulin and Talisker would be my first choices, but of course I love different styles as well (as long as we remain in Scotland!) and I have heard so many good opinions about the Clynelish products, the Clynelish one also fires my curiosity
That was a fantastic all encompassing review of the collectable line up!! I will not be getting them all as I don’t collect much. But the Lagavulin, dalwhinnie, and the Talisker and clyniesh need to be bought and drank!! Thanks Rob, very informative indeed!!!
Great review Rob. Was cool to see all of them reviewed in one shot. I'll probably only get one bottle as my whisky budget isn't very high at the moment. Was leaning towards the Talisker, but it's already tough to find in Ontario. Such is life... :)
Excellent job!! Anyone know where to get the Clynelish? (House Tyrell) somewhere that will ship to the US? I can’t find it anywhere and it’s the only one I don’t have to complete the collection. 😢😭
@@WhiskyInThe6 I've had it before, but not in a while. I've up'd my whiskey game over the last few years and have been meaning to get back to it, but haven't yet.
Great video Rob! I grabbed 2 bottles of the Lagavulin when these came out and really love it. Don't think the LCBO even has them all yet. I'd also like to try the Talisker. I see the HP Trillium on your shelf too, Jeremy from SSC said you had a hand in picking that barrel out. I bought a bottle for my birthday and really enjoyed it so great work! Hope to see a review of that soon ;) PS send me those samples lol
Very helpful review! I haven't been able to buy or taste any of them, but I'm most interested in comparing the Talisker and the Lagavulin to check out the use of peat. The Clynelish sounds intriguing too.
Thanks for the great review. My favorite scotches are Lagavulin and Talisker, but I am interested in your last 2 picks of the top 4 Game of Thrones picks scotch collection. Cheers!
Hey Rob, the talisker and the lagavulin definitely intrigue me the most! I agree with you it seems a little gimmicky but really they'd be stupid not to cash in on Game of Thrones while they can right! haha
I enjoyed your review of the scotches. I have never tried them. I use to be a bigger fan of Scotch than I am these days, I think because I a a 2ine consultant and have been forced to do more wine tastings with little time for Scotch lately. I am really bummed out to hear your contest is over, I just saw it this morning. If you know a way to get the samples please let me know. I bought the entire set as an investment so won't open them.. curious if the flavors though. Thank you for the thorough review and I am now subscribed. Cheers
Hi there! Surprised to actually hear back from you. No worries about the samples, I just thought you might know where I could buy them. I really enjoyed your in depth review and will stay subscribed for your knowledge and hopefully more encouragement to get back in to more scotch vs being so attached to wines. ;) Thank you again for your knowledge and I definitely need to get back into what I like!!!
Fantastic review of the GoT range, Rob! I passed on a Oban that a store wanted $99 for. I've got a couple of the Dalwhinnie and Clynelish bottles and will grab the peated two soon before they vanish. Superb notes on each of the bottles brother! Cheers
Great video!!! I have 7 out of the 8 can’t find the CLYNELISH bottle anywhere it’s so frustrating. Sold out everywhere in Nj I got some doubles of the nights watch and grey joy bottles if any one wants to trade.
Great Rundown! Would most like to try the Lagavulin, have the 8, 12 (2017 edition), 16, and 16 distillers edition and love them all. Hopefully I’ll come across the 9 GOT edition at some point. Cheers!
i think the whisky id be most interested in trying would be the talisker or the lagavulin as I love peaty whisky, however iv never tried a royal lochnagar so id be curious to try that! also curious as to whether or not its just a rebottling of the standard royal lochnagar 12, which I assume it is.
Nice run-down, Rob. I grabbed the Oban, Talisker, Clynelish and Lagavulin based solely on my feelings about the distilleries in question. (Not a GoT fan.) Sounds like I did it right... maybe I need to pick up a backup Lag while there's still a couple around town. I haven't heard a single bad thing about it.
I got the Dalwhinnie and the Lagavulin when they showed up at the local shop, but haven't been able to find any of the others. I think the one that I wanted to try most is the Clynelish but the two I managed to purchase were pretty nice. The collection has me exploring more standard expressions from the distilleries included so I guess that's a win overall for the Diageo bottom line.
Great video! I was only able to get a few of these. The Lagavulin is my clear favorite so far. I most want to try the Clynelish. One of my favorite distilleries!
Great review Rob! Looking forward to the new season in April, preparations are underway! So far I've only tasted the Lagavulin, Cardhu, Singleton, and Dalwhinnie... only one I liked personally was the Lavagulin which was close to the 8yr imo. The other four are not available in NB so would be great to be able to sample the remaining four (only during new episodes of course). Cheers!
I only got 5 different varieties of these, but i fortunately got 2 of the Lagavulin. Love tha Talisker too. One of your best reviews that i have seen. Cheers
Lagavulin is a keeper, better then there 8. I did not find the others (talisker, oban, etc..) any better then the lower end of their respective core range. Would love to try the clynelish to see where it falls with regard to their 14yr old, the higher abv might be interesting.
I find it super interesting that if you compair this review to Raphy's they are super different. Ralphy says that this 9 year old is super smoked compaired to the standard 8 year old release. I wonder if there was a big diffrence in the EU release compaired to the NA release? Very interesting.
I'm waiting for the release date over here in UK, I've the Oban and Clynlish on order from Amazon UK, should be with me the 20th this month. Oban was £65, the Clynlish was £48, not bad. Found it weird the UK had such late release dates although Scotland's just up the road from England.
They aren't available in the UK yet so I haven't tried them. The ones I'd like to try most are the Lagavulin and the Clynelish, although the Talisker has piqued my interest. I decided not to pre-order them as I thought the UK prices were too high compared to the standard releases and the US pricing of this range. And there are plenty other whiskies I'd like to try first (Springbank, Edradour , Glen Garioch, Benromach and Benrinnes to name a few) where with this GoT range I have at least already had bottles from each distillery before. Which isn't to say I wouldn't like some samples of these ones. ;)
Haven't picked up any of these as yet, but the one I want to try most is definitely the Lag 9. Why, oh why, did they make the Lagavulin offering the Lannister one? It caused me great pain when first I saw that... :(
I picked up the Lag version of these GOT whiskys. Haven't opened it yet -- if it's similar to the 8yo (which I love) I'll enjoy. I'll be bringing it to a tasting in April.
Awesome video Rob! Im looking forwarding to the Clynelish at the higher abv but as well the Lagavulin as I havent had a Lag that i haven't enjoyed. Cheers!
Thanks for the in-depth review. Picked up the Lagavulin today, will probably skip the rest (not that I could find them all anyway). Mainly I wanted a bottle to enjoy when GoT returns and I'm mainly a bourbon guy.
I have a bottle of the Laga 9 open and Like it a lot. Waiting for the season to start to open my talisker! Most interested in trying the Clynelish or Loch Nagar. Great overview of the whole set. I was waiting for someone to do this sort of review
The Lagavulin 9 year is really damn good. I was able to taste about half of the Game of Thrones whisky's and from the ones I had, it really stood out. Just delicious! Wish I had more of it! Makes me want to seek out other Lagavulin's!
Great Review! Can't wait for the final season to start! I've only tried the Oban and got crazy amounts of sweet fruits like pears and green apples and would like to try the Clynelish & Lagavulin b4 I open my bottles
Great review Rob! I didn't go after any of these. I figured, as you did, that it was mostly a gimmick. I was gifted the Lagavulin though so it sounds like I'm in good shape! Cheers!
wishing to have a chance to taste them all... non have reached Ecuador yet and if they do they will be insanely overprices..looking forward to the Lagavulin and Talisker....
Enjoyed the reviews and really appreciate the giveaway. I'm most interested in trying the Lagavulin, but of course would also like think it would be fun to stack the Clynelish up against the 14 and the Talisker up against the 10. Cheers, Rob!
@@WhiskyInThe6 The only other one I own is the Singleton which isn't bad but fairly simple and not my typical preference. I ordered a bottle of the Cardhu for a good friend who loves the Targaeryns for Xmas, and we cracked it open on New Year's Eve; the honey notes were really nice but otherwise very simple- though I find it hard to judge a whisky from just one dram especially the first from a bottle. If I found it again for a reasonable price I'd get one for myself both for the collection and to give it another try.