Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Love bourbon but still enjoy an occasional foreign whisky pour as well? Discuss some of your favorites here.

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Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Unread postby Vital » Wed May 02, 2012 12:16 am

Can someone recommend scotch that is smokey and sweet at the same time?

I'm not huge on scotch but all of them I tried are either smokey and salty or non-smokey and sweet.
I love smokiness but don't like saltiness so I'd like to find that perfect one for me :D
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Re: Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Unread postby Bourbon HQ » Wed May 02, 2012 6:26 am

Drink bourbon.
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Re: Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Unread postby longhorn » Tue May 29, 2012 8:58 pm

Highland Park 12 or 18
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Re: Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Unread postby ebo » Wed May 30, 2012 8:44 pm

Ardbeg 10.
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Re: Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Unread postby TomH » Sat Jun 02, 2012 5:38 pm

You may have to work to find a bottle (most stores released it today - and many are already sold out) but I think Ardbeg Day would be right up your alley. It has all of the great campfire smoke that Ardbeg is known for, but it was finished in sherry to give it a nice sweetness to go along with the smoke. The main thing for me that it is very balanced between the smoke and the sherry making it one of my favorite scotches (definitely in the top 5 Islay's I've tasted and probably in the top 3 for value even at $100).

It does appear to be a very limited release and I would be surprised to find any on the shelves. This is one where knowing your spirits manager helps. Our local store held a drawing for the right to buy a bottle....luckily both Barb and I had our names drawn.

Tom
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Re: Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Unread postby Roscoe » Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:16 am

I agree about the Ardbeg Day. We tasted it this past Friday at our store. The sherry cask kind of rounds off the peat in a way that gives you both peat and a slight sweetness on the finish. I recently attended a Scotch Malt Whisky Society event in NYC and had an opportunity to sample a Lagavulin 16yr sherry cask and a Talisker 11yr sherry cask. Both were outstanding. However, when I came into the store the next day and tried to order it in, I found out they are not available in NJ. Bummer.

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Re: Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Unread postby wchurst » Sat Oct 13, 2012 9:36 am

If you like smoke (Peat) & sweet (sherry) at the same time, you should be looking for Peated Whiskies that are finished/aged in Sherry casks.
...The longer it's aged in the sherry cask, the sweeter the taste is going to be (7-10 years is about the maximum 'sweetening' time.)

Sherry cask ageing is generally done as a single-cask, or dual-cask aging process; dual-cask aging is where they may initially age for 4 years
in white oak barrels, whish is then are transferred into used sherry casks for another 7 years...Producing a 11yr product.

NOTE: Additionally, many whiskies are also "sherry finished", meaning that they usually have less time in a sherry cask than an oak one, and this
will produce a 'slighter' sweetness. (Check your bottles for details on the amount of time spent in sherry casks to get a good idea of the sweetness.)

For "smoke", you really want to understand where you whiskies are coming from, as differant areas tend to peat differantly (almost a local recipe),
and the peats used can also be very differant themselves: Peats from the west sides of both Ireland & Scotland can be rather salty, giving your
tipple a slightly 'briney' flavor as well for a 'salty'. (Areas such as Islay & Campbeltown are well kown for salty peats.)

If you like a heavy smoke, Islay whiskies are some of the heaviest: Laguvalin, Ardberg, Bowmore & Laphroiag is great for this...but can be quite strong.

If you want a medium smoke, Campbeltown whiskies like Longrow (heavier) & Springbank (lighter) are both good choices...dependant on your taste.

For lighter smoke, and less saltyness, try some of the Speyside whiskies: Ardmore, Knockando & Macallan are some of their better known brands.

Hope this gives you a bit of a 'road map' to understanding whiskies, and finding more of those that may suit your particular tastes, then what fits the
taste buds of others...Not knocking any recommendations your may receive, but to understand what you like, you have to understand what goes into
the recipe a bit. (I spend a few years buying what everyone else recommended, but often found that many were not "quite right" to my taste.)

Cheers, and happy hunting !!!
Walter C Hurst
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Re: Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Unread postby ebo » Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:19 pm

Smokey and sweet............ Ardmore Traditional Cask.
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Re: Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Unread postby SuperiorStTradingCo » Fri Nov 14, 2014 12:31 am

longhorn wrote:Highland Park 18



I second this. One of the finest scotches I have tried.
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Re: Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Unread postby fenderbender4 » Sat May 07, 2016 12:02 pm

SuperiorStTradingCo wrote:
longhorn wrote:Highland Park 18



I second this. One of the finest scotches I have tried.


Amazing, amazing stuff. I think Highland Park 12 is a great value. One of the first scotches I tried and really liked it. I like to think of it as a "greatest hits" of the different regions of scotch production, kind of has enough notes of all of them, without delving too far into the Islay smoke, peat, and iodine.

That said, I know someone mentioned "drink bourbon" but to me, I've never had a bourbon that I would say is "smokey". Yes, there's oak and char, but to me it's different than smoke. Scotches really do get that smoke note, like if you chose to stand directly in the cloud of smoke of a bonfire and breathed in. Just my opinion.
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Re: Smokey and sweet at the same time??

Unread postby RandyG » Tue Aug 02, 2016 11:51 pm

Old thread but my choice would be Aberlour A'Bunadh.
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