My take on Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban 12 yo

Again I've been quiet for a while without any new posts, but the reason is not that I would not have any new whisky impressions that I'd like to share - rather I was travelling once more. Now I'm back home, have time to relax on a Friday evening, and want to write down my latest thoughts on my most recently opened bottle of Scotch whisky.

My understanding of the classification of whisky is based on the use of two fundamentally different types of wood casks for maturation: former bourbon casks, and ex-sherry casks. The use of peated malted barley gives another dimension (see, for example, my take on Laphroaig Quarter Cask), but that is a different story alltogether. The use of bourbon and sherry casks for modern Scotch whisky developed out of opportunity after World War II, because these casks were readily available and cheap. Since back then, however, expecially sherry has run out of fashion somehow, while the demand for sherry-matured whiskies is constantly growing. This imbalance prompted distilleries in the 1980s or 1990s to start looking elsewhere for used casks, and they started experimenting with all kinds of stuff, like different types of wine casks, whatever they could get their hands on. Today, finishing whiskies off with some exotic cask is a widespread technique among many Scottish distillers, in order to broaden the range of flavors in their portfolio.

My take on Lagavulin 16 yo

There are a few Single Malt Scotch Whiskies that are recognized as being "Classics", or that have a very well reputation amonst whisky drinkers. One such classic whisky, that is often highly praised also by many experts, is the Lagavulin 16 year old, which is the standard bottling of that distillery. Being an Islay whisky, this one filled the emptying slot on my whisky shelf when the filling level of the previously tasted Laphroaig Quarter Cask approached the bottle base. The Lagavulin has a similarly strong peat smoke element, but in addition also a sizable amount of sherry cask maturation involved, yielding a flavor profile that balances peat smoke and sherry sweetness. Furthermore, it is aged considerably longer, and of course the distillery style of Lagavulin has its own unique characteristics. Therefore, in my opinion it is a good continuation on my journey, giving me more perspective on the aspect of peated whiskies. Also, as it is one of the most well known malts, it can serve in the future as a nice benchmark that (almost) everybody in the whisky community can relate to, and it certainly is one of the malts that are said to be ones that "you absolutely have to try at least once".