Loved this format. Would like to see more vids like this blind tasting 4 of similar category such as (Age Statement, NAS, or Barrel Finish). My only suggestion would be to get a set of Black, Dark Blue, or Dark Green Glencarin glasses for the blinds, because sometimes the color gives the dram away (I.e. current dark batches of Glenallachie vs anything else).
Now your describing my life style. I'm trying to buy at least four bottles for every style. I made the mistake for my first blind flight of all New Your cask strength ryes, 90-100 % rye. So after the second round of tasting they were all the same .
Great video, enjoy this format, please do more head to heads! Haha would have been fun to see your predictions as you went also, I know it didn’t go so well last time but it’s still entertaining to watch and to get more of an idea of your thought process.
Try Deanston 18yo. Its a very good dram & can be bought in the UK for under £70. It's finished in Kentucky bourbon casks. Unchilfiltered, natural colour and 46.3% ABV.
PINky WINKY 😁. Im Not surprised. Its Winner for me as well. Love Arran at all. Fantastic juices! It was good fun, been really enjoyed. Just want more this kind of F2F wars 👍😁🥃🙋♂️
@@MaltActivist As far as I'm aware Glendronach haven't changed their production process. All they have done is removing the "non chill filtered" statement from the tubes. The reason for that is they have been using and still do (non chill) filtration methods that border chill filtration so they were afraid of being accused of providing false information on the packaging. The degree of filtration they use depends of the batch and they aim for a certain level of clarity for their malts. Apparently for some batches required filtration is so close to chill filtration that they don't feel safe keeping the statement on the tubes. Cheers!
@@Nikolay_Nikolov You're right - that's what I read. I'm researching the process a little more and may even release video about that. That's why you would have noticed I didn't say chill filtration but a different type of filtration. Thank you for pointing it - that really helps! Cheers.
I think the old bottling was blended from bourbon and sherry.. that's all I see near me. 2 shops still have a few bottles. The only new bottles I see are the 10 and some NAS. I didn't know what I would do if I saw the braille Arran 18, cause it's going to be expensive. Now I know...BUY it!
@@jackthepickledhound that’s right - the old bottling was a mix of bourbon and sherry. Don’t be too sad about not seeing the new bottling yet. The old one was a beautiful whisky. It’s actually the one that started my obsession with scotch lol. Plus, they are very difficult to find now and the prices have gone up for those bottles. I would scoop some up!
You should have had a friends mix them for you. You tell from the color of the whisky which one is which. Also you can see the color of the dot from your screen. We're not fooled. Not exactly blind, is it? hah hah!
Nice and fair review. Arran is great stuff. Got the 21, but just ordered the 18 as well. The 18 is hard to get here in Europe, but is avaible at the Arran webshop. So be quick If you want one. Glendronach also good, only the chill filtering is a shame. Still got all unchill filtered bottles
When blind tasting I think it’s not apples to apples without matching the bottle levels. I find that last 1/8 of a bottle if it has sat for more than a week slightly diminished as a general rule and peak flavor is about 1/3rd down in the bottle.
I'm not sure I ever had the pleasure to try Arran 18... Really makes me want to try it. Not too surprised Maccallan finished last, recent years Maccalan has been "over priced average whisky" sadly. Long gone are the glory days but the reputation keeps prices high. Interesting video, keep it up!
My guesses were before you judged them…1 . Glendronach 2. Arran 3 . MacAllan 4. Aberlour. Aberlour bottling always seem to give me synthetic feel on the palate, and a saccharine aftertaste. Glendronch is absolutely sublime. Really enjoyed your review. Slainte 🥃👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I love this new Aberlour that they've come out with. The Glendronach is lovely but maybe a tad bit spice forward and thin on the mouth. Older Glendronach 18s were just awesome!
Tried it a few weeks ago. Meh. I had the Springbank 15 before the Glenfiddich 18 and obviously the Springbank absolutely destroyed it. I then tried the Ledaig 18, and although not as good as the springbank, it also obliterates the Glenfiddich 18. Taste is taste though. It's not bad either, but I have countless other 18 year olds or even younger whiskies that are so much better. I also had the GlenDronach 18 on the same day, all of these are on another league.
Great video, not a big fan of Macallan, find a lot of their whisky, lacks real depth, no surprises with regards to Arran, what a dram that is, I am a big fan of Glendronach, though their recent 18yr release, is just not as good as the old nectar, which was sublime, never tried the Aberlour 18, so will have to check that out. I believe the Speyburn 18 is a cracker, though I have not had the pleasure of trying it yet.
@@MaltActivist I found that there was a decline from 2017 to 2018 / 2019. I haven’t tasted the 2020 or 2021 but I assume - given the general trend - that it is no longer quite the same whisky. I have a 2021 GD15 and it is very average. I don’t know if you have had the Macallan 15 Double Cask but I prefer that to the 18. Not surprised that it was at the bottom of your list.
@@arygerman6122 I'll be honest I didn't drink them all like that. Though I remember drinking earlier 18 year old GDs that were sublime (2015, 16, 17) - I drank this one after a long time and found it to be lacking the older complexity. I have not tried the Macallan 15 Double Cask. Will try and get my hands on it.
I agree with your rankings (though I’ve never actually tried Aberlour). I finally just found a bottle of Glendronach in my local wine store, for $219. I had to try it because I really like the Glendronach 15 & 21 years. I have to say though, I would not buy it again, because it tastes (to me) nearly identical to the Arran 18, which is $80 cheaper.
