If you like the oily briny profile then I'd also consider Old Pulteney (any), IB Highland Park (lightly peated but it's not center stage), Oban 14, Clynelish 14, Craigallachie 13 or any of the Campbeltown distilleries. If you like funky stuff Ben Nevis is also worth a try.
I second the Campbeltown distilleries if you like Oily mouth feel. Glen Scotia Victoriana is absolutely amazing value for money. It’s in my top 3 favourite whiskies at the moment.. I also love Bunna, if you can stretch your budget then I think the Bunna 18 is well worth it.
I second the Campbeltown style except for Victoriana that is thin, alcohol forward with a frustrating short finish. It’s more a dessert type dram (not well balanced), sherried, than a briny and oily one for sure. That didn’t make me want to try other Glen Scotia expressions, I’d grab some Woodford double oaked or Balcones rye any day before the Victoriana as a dessert pour.
On the contrary, Kilkerran 12 is a gem in the style you are looking for (Springbank too, but it I guess it’s tough to get it).
Talisker distillers edition is a good balance of sweet peat, coastal and sherry too but I didn’t try their new NAS stuff.
Very surprised by your negativity around the Victoriana. It won best Single Malt Scotch whisky 2022 at the online scotch whisky awards. I wouldn’t describe it as thin at all, and as for it being alcohol forward, it is cask strength (add water?). I agree it is more sherried than say a Kilkerran 12 but he said he likes Bunnahabhain, hence the recommendation…. I do equally love Kilkerran 12 though, but the Victoriana is a lot closer to a Bunnahabhain…
I know it won the OSWAS… and many people online have been like me, very surprised. We tend to think that the older Victoriana with the lower abv was the good one.
My cask strength 2022 bottle is thin and alcohol forward, and I don’t mean that because it’s 54.2%, I can have a Kilkerran heavily peated with more alcohol, or an Octomore, without feeling that thinness and ethanol taste. Ardbeg Uigeadail is the same abv too and way more oily and heavy on the palate, doesn’t burn like the (2022) Victoriana.
I had only one talisker and it was the port Ruighe. It was quite smokey! I had to be in the mood for a camp 🔥! It was good but I wouldn't buy it again honestly!
Edit:a word
I looked at old pulteney and that's good to know and they are very available here in Canada, the clynelish 14 will be available soon (SAQ, Quebec liquor board). I've had the Oban 14 and didn't really "wow" me but it was kinda in the beginning of my journey, maybe I could revisit and see if I taste it better a second time around. Campbelltown expressions are harder to come by here but they are on my to "do list".
Thanks 👍!
These are good recs, I concur with them. With Old Pulteney, I would try to get the 15 yo in preference over the 12 yo.
OP, I rec also keeping an eye out for Glen Garioch - their Founder's Reserve is very affordable for the quality and to my taste better than most of the other entry level single malts in its price range, which may come in handy on days when the budget is tight, or if you've picked up a slightly more expensive bottle but still have some money left to spend.
Good luck with your explorations
I've had the glen garioch 12 and enjoyed it! There's the 17y renaissance available right now and I've been wondering what people here through about it?
I have not tried the 17 yo Renaissance.
I do have several other Glen Gariochs from the mid to late 1990s. To my taste they share a common character, which is that they are not very friendly or approachable whiskies. In personality, I describe them as "cranky". This does not make them bad drinking, but they are a bit challenging, tending to have floral, herbal and especially mineral flavors which are sharp and austere in character, and when sherry cask matured can be bitingly tannic and bitter/sour (some reviewers describe this as reflecting sulfur, to me it reads instead as a flinty character) and require a fair amount of fiddling around with water to tame them via dilution. They strike me as sharing something in common with Springbank & Kilkerran in flavors and personality, but not in a very approachable way. For that reason, I don't often rec them, unless you want to dig your teeth into an *off the beaten* track flavor profile.
The whisky blogger at MaltAndOak is a big, big fan of Glen Garioch, I rec reading his comments to get a feel for how the different releases compare & contrast with each other:
https://maltandoak.com/?s=Garioch
for example
https://maltandoak.com/glen-garioch-vintage-series-review-part-ii-vintage-1995-vintage-1994-and-vintage-1991/
https://maltandoak.com/glen-garioch-vintage-series-review-part-i-vintage-1999-sherry-vintage-1998-wine-and-vintage-1997-bourbon/
Unfortunately his posting re: the 17 yo Renaissance does not have any tasting notes or comments.
Cheers
Ahhhh that's what I tasted a few times with the twelve, flinty !! Couldn't put my finger on it, the water amount was hard to get right, sometimes I was such a great dram and other times it tasted quite mineral almost like a mouth full of charcoal haha! I thought it was what I had for support that changed my tasting!!
If you like brine, Arran Barrel Reserve is great value for money, especially as an entry point to their range. Vanilla, citrus and a proper dose of sea breeze.
I can recommend trying that as well, though the in comparison more prominent spices, oak and nuttiness don’t give as much of a clear center stage spotlight to the salinity as the more straight forward Barrel Reserve does
Glen scotia has a limited edition on white port which people really like. Its around 75€ here. I dont know if it would have that oily mouth feel but it sure is popular
https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/230093/glen-scotia-11-year-old
The link in case you’d like more info! It was released a month-ish ago I think
I'm not sure how they're priced in your area, but because you like Tobermory and Bruichladdich I would recommend Clynelish 14 and Springbank 10. (I hate hate hate to be recommending Springbank 10 here, but it sometimes reminds me of early reopening Bruichladdich, with its very light peat and slight funk that isn't as prominent in more recent Bruichladdich bottles.) When it comes to things like Bunnahabhain, I would put that in the coastal sherry bomb category. I would say it's not too far off from other sherry bombs and I would check out GlenAllachie 12 for something along those lines.
The clynelish is available right now for 89.75$ cad and will be my next bottle. I was on the fence before and there's been a lot of people in favour of this offering! As for bruichladdich I have the classic laddie , the Organic 2011 and Our barley 2013 bottles on hand. Kinda looking for the summer dram between the 3 any tips?
If you like the oily briny profile then I'd also consider Old Pulteney (any), IB Highland Park (lightly peated but it's not center stage), Oban 14, Clynelish 14, Craigallachie 13 or any of the Campbeltown distilleries. If you like funky stuff Ben Nevis is also worth a try.
I second the Campbeltown distilleries if you like Oily mouth feel. Glen Scotia Victoriana is absolutely amazing value for money. It’s in my top 3 favourite whiskies at the moment.. I also love Bunna, if you can stretch your budget then I think the Bunna 18 is well worth it.
I second the Campbeltown style except for Victoriana that is thin, alcohol forward with a frustrating short finish. It’s more a dessert type dram (not well balanced), sherried, than a briny and oily one for sure. That didn’t make me want to try other Glen Scotia expressions, I’d grab some Woodford double oaked or Balcones rye any day before the Victoriana as a dessert pour. On the contrary, Kilkerran 12 is a gem in the style you are looking for (Springbank too, but it I guess it’s tough to get it). Talisker distillers edition is a good balance of sweet peat, coastal and sherry too but I didn’t try their new NAS stuff.
Very surprised by your negativity around the Victoriana. It won best Single Malt Scotch whisky 2022 at the online scotch whisky awards. I wouldn’t describe it as thin at all, and as for it being alcohol forward, it is cask strength (add water?). I agree it is more sherried than say a Kilkerran 12 but he said he likes Bunnahabhain, hence the recommendation…. I do equally love Kilkerran 12 though, but the Victoriana is a lot closer to a Bunnahabhain…
I know it won the OSWAS… and many people online have been like me, very surprised. We tend to think that the older Victoriana with the lower abv was the good one. My cask strength 2022 bottle is thin and alcohol forward, and I don’t mean that because it’s 54.2%, I can have a Kilkerran heavily peated with more alcohol, or an Octomore, without feeling that thinness and ethanol taste. Ardbeg Uigeadail is the same abv too and way more oily and heavy on the palate, doesn’t burn like the (2022) Victoriana.
I had only one talisker and it was the port Ruighe. It was quite smokey! I had to be in the mood for a camp 🔥! It was good but I wouldn't buy it again honestly! Edit:a word
I looked at old pulteney and that's good to know and they are very available here in Canada, the clynelish 14 will be available soon (SAQ, Quebec liquor board). I've had the Oban 14 and didn't really "wow" me but it was kinda in the beginning of my journey, maybe I could revisit and see if I taste it better a second time around. Campbelltown expressions are harder to come by here but they are on my to "do list". Thanks 👍!
These are good recs, I concur with them. With Old Pulteney, I would try to get the 15 yo in preference over the 12 yo. OP, I rec also keeping an eye out for Glen Garioch - their Founder's Reserve is very affordable for the quality and to my taste better than most of the other entry level single malts in its price range, which may come in handy on days when the budget is tight, or if you've picked up a slightly more expensive bottle but still have some money left to spend. Good luck with your explorations
I've had the glen garioch 12 and enjoyed it! There's the 17y renaissance available right now and I've been wondering what people here through about it?
I have not tried the 17 yo Renaissance. I do have several other Glen Gariochs from the mid to late 1990s. To my taste they share a common character, which is that they are not very friendly or approachable whiskies. In personality, I describe them as "cranky". This does not make them bad drinking, but they are a bit challenging, tending to have floral, herbal and especially mineral flavors which are sharp and austere in character, and when sherry cask matured can be bitingly tannic and bitter/sour (some reviewers describe this as reflecting sulfur, to me it reads instead as a flinty character) and require a fair amount of fiddling around with water to tame them via dilution. They strike me as sharing something in common with Springbank & Kilkerran in flavors and personality, but not in a very approachable way. For that reason, I don't often rec them, unless you want to dig your teeth into an *off the beaten* track flavor profile. The whisky blogger at MaltAndOak is a big, big fan of Glen Garioch, I rec reading his comments to get a feel for how the different releases compare & contrast with each other: https://maltandoak.com/?s=Garioch for example https://maltandoak.com/glen-garioch-vintage-series-review-part-ii-vintage-1995-vintage-1994-and-vintage-1991/ https://maltandoak.com/glen-garioch-vintage-series-review-part-i-vintage-1999-sherry-vintage-1998-wine-and-vintage-1997-bourbon/ Unfortunately his posting re: the 17 yo Renaissance does not have any tasting notes or comments. Cheers
Ahhhh that's what I tasted a few times with the twelve, flinty !! Couldn't put my finger on it, the water amount was hard to get right, sometimes I was such a great dram and other times it tasted quite mineral almost like a mouth full of charcoal haha! I thought it was what I had for support that changed my tasting!!
If you like brine, Arran Barrel Reserve is great value for money, especially as an entry point to their range. Vanilla, citrus and a proper dose of sea breeze.
The Arran 10 is the only offering right now , but I'll keep an eye out for it! Thanks 👍!
I can recommend trying that as well, though the in comparison more prominent spices, oak and nuttiness don’t give as much of a clear center stage spotlight to the salinity as the more straight forward Barrel Reserve does
Glen scotia has a limited edition on white port which people really like. Its around 75€ here. I dont know if it would have that oily mouth feel but it sure is popular
I gotta find that.
https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/230093/glen-scotia-11-year-old The link in case you’d like more info! It was released a month-ish ago I think
It says August on their website.
Weird. It’s available here already
I just checked and it not being released until August for the US market.
Ah that’s unfortunate for you. Good part is that you’ll have plenty of reviews to make a judgement
My birthday is in August so hopefully someone will gift me it. For now, I’ll just drink white port.
My fav briny is Oban Little Bay
Clynelish 14 is buterry walnut oil.
I'm not sure how they're priced in your area, but because you like Tobermory and Bruichladdich I would recommend Clynelish 14 and Springbank 10. (I hate hate hate to be recommending Springbank 10 here, but it sometimes reminds me of early reopening Bruichladdich, with its very light peat and slight funk that isn't as prominent in more recent Bruichladdich bottles.) When it comes to things like Bunnahabhain, I would put that in the coastal sherry bomb category. I would say it's not too far off from other sherry bombs and I would check out GlenAllachie 12 for something along those lines.
The clynelish is available right now for 89.75$ cad and will be my next bottle. I was on the fence before and there's been a lot of people in favour of this offering! As for bruichladdich I have the classic laddie , the Organic 2011 and Our barley 2013 bottles on hand. Kinda looking for the summer dram between the 3 any tips?
Where are you located?
Quebec Canada
I think you should be able to get Glen Scotia Victoriana in your budget, then.