Two's Company

This weekend we were visited by a friend from Edmonton, and I was able to partake in a couple of drams with him. It was great having company, and especially nice to be able to have someone to bounce perceptions of the scotch off of. As an added bonus I got to go skiing with him yesterday, and fortunately there was some fresh snow to top it all off! The skiing was almost as good as the scotch.

Laphroaig 10yo

Saturday night we had a wonderful dinner (Boromir burgers and Faramir Fries) and got us set up with some Laphroaig from my "collection." I really enjoyed this one and I spent a long time enjoying both the nose and the tasting experience. I was enjoying the nose so much that my wife told me that my breathing was annoying her. I guess I'll have to "breathe" quieter when I am tasting. Anyway, apart from the carmelly smell this time I was able to pick up a mildly fruity smell that I couldn't identify. I looked in my book for some possible aromas, and found that it seems to be closest to plums. I really like the taste of this one as well, it is more mildly smoky than the Ardbeg I like, but still very nice. When I tasted this one this time though I tasted a very woody flavour, like oak. This was definitely new for me and made it that much more enjoyable.

Lagavulin 16yo

Sunday night was my birthday and we went out to the Bull and Bush for dinner. I had the shepherds pie again, which I really like, along with the Big Ben Brown ale (second only to the Man Beer IPA if you ask me). For my after dinner scotch I ordered the Lagavulin 16yo. It's a little more expensive than I usually spring for, but it was my birthday, so I figured what the heck. I've heard good things about this one, and it did not disappoint. It has a very dark colour, burnt amber I would say, and a wonderful caramel/smoke aroma. The taste of this one was really outstanding though, very smooth with a subtle smoke taste. The smoke in this one I found was more woody rather than peaty I think, and the finish was almost sweet. It was a great scotch, one that is definitely worth the extra money, but I probably won't be springing for a bottle of it any time soon.

Next week I have a conference to go to in Monterey, which I am looking forward to a lot. Usually one of the companies holds a drawing for a bottle of scotch (this is how I got my first bottle), so with a little luck I may have a new one to try when I get back! Here's hoping!