Hi Jeff. I’ve been watching you for a long time, and today I decided to write. About a year ago you had a video about analogues of expensive whiskeys, and now I’ve been staring at Ardnamurchan. And I bought myself a release aged in rum barrels. What can I say, excellent release. Above average from what I tried. with a more or less adequate price of $100. I’ll try again! Good luck!
@@Gwhisky When I first tried it, I thought I was drinking glenrothes (I have a bottle of old paticular and Signatory Vintage) and what a surprise I was that it was Ardnamurchan =)
Thanks for this runthrough, Geoff. Timing? ... I might rewatch after the spoil the Glasgow Whisky Festival brought with it has quiet out a little. Fun fact: joined a blind tasting where I ranked the people's choice second from last... Slàinte mhath
I found a boxed 2021 bottled Springbank 10 dusty last Saturday at a random liquor store next door to a concert I was going to in Chicago. Wild! Never hesitate to check some of these small stores if you have an extra 5 minutes. You never know what you’ll find. Great video thanks!
Excellent summary of the OSWA nominees. I pretty much ignore Springbank nowadays as, unless you go to the distillery, you can't find it. On the other hand, the wonderful Kilkerran is available everywhere BTW, I was told that the anCnoc 18 and 24 has or soon will be discontinued.
Yeah SB is certainly a frustrating brand. AnCnoc 18 and 24 gone, eh? A bit sad, that. The 24, for all intents and purposes, has seemingly been gone from my market for the last couple years, with the 18 becoming increasingly sparse. Both good drops. I suppose I should stock up while I can if I manage to come across them. Cheers Reb! 🥃
I was a long time Springbank drinker but gave it up as here in Australia it became ( like the rest of the world) prohibitively priced and hard to get. Just recently the price dropped to AU$200 for the ten year old so I bought a bottle to benchmark against my regulars which run from AU$90 up to the occasional AU$150. I am VERY pleased to say that it is still delicious but certainly doesn’t stand out against my regs. Goodbye Springbank, I doubt we’ll ever meet again.
@@125ctg As I said, here in Israel, Springbank bottles are as rare as hen's teeth, but you can get Kilkerran everywhere and at reasonable prices, some bottlings which are hard to find in the UK. We are also fortunate that there are a lot of Kilchoman Single Cask bottlings here at prices cheaper than say The Whisky Exchange in London. Those are the exceptions to the rule.
A tasting set with these whisky’s would be phenomenal. That would be an awesome Christmas present. I must see what My local shop has prepared this year. Springbank 12 cask is one I haven’t seen, and I did recently get the 10 for 65 GBP. Thanks for sharing 🥃
I love the bunna 12 cs but yeah, I definitely will pick up the Ledaig 18 in the next few weeks! I went for the 9cs last year instead, great whisky but do regret not going for the 18. Great to see it as your top pick, roll on Black Friday 😅 cheers!
I knew you would choose Ledaig 18 as your number 1 hehe Great list again and that lucky 7 seems like a good number hah Keep up the great work my friend and the new design looks absolutely awesome! I would have wished for the Paul Lanoise release of Ardnamurchan to be nominated instead of the CS. I think really deserves to be a nominee! Cheers Buddy 🥃🥃🎩
Geoff Best whisky I’ve tried and bought numerous bottles of this year is “The Roseisle12 “ doesn’t figure any any lists except perhaps mine and yours , but good stuff, needs some water to open it up but when ya hit the sweet spot , loads of layers , not cheap , some may say not great value , but it is great whisky 👍
Hi Geoff. Would love to have the Kilkerran 16 but where I am it’s to expensive. My vote went to the Benromach CS, why, because you’re getting a very good malt at a decent price and I love the stuff. Slàinte Geoff.
Fully agree on 2022 being the best so far. However, in direct comparison, I prefer 2021 over 2023, and thats what I also hear from many other whisky enthusiasts here in Germany.
Out of the OSWA best scotch nominees, Ardnamurchan Cask Strength is the only one readily available here and is affordable at approx. $110 NZD. My people's choice pick was the Ardnamurchan Paul Launois. Love that whisky. Cheers!
I would move things around a bit with 7- Ancnoc 24 (I've not tried it before) 6- Bunnahabhain 12 CS 5- Kilkerran 16 4- Ardnamurchan CS 3- Benromach CS 2- Springbank I completely agree with you number 1! Cheers dude!
In my market Kilkerran 16 is almost two times more expensive than 12, but I think it's worth it. In fact I don't enjoy 12 YO. I plan to buy Ledaig for about 5 years now😂 maybe it is a good time to finally grab it. It-s around 120 € where I live, I think it's decent price.
AFAIK Bunna CS never makes it to Canada which is s total bummer..For the life of me I can't find a bottle of Ledaig 18 either! A good alternative to Ancnoc 24 is of course Ancnoc 18, still widely available and half the price. Another affordable 18 is Deanston, a distillery you're not really that into Geoff but I think it offers a lot of complexity and flavour for the money. Lastly Glenfarclas 15 needs to get more love imo. Probably my favourite sherried 15 year old these days. A dram I appreciate more and more over the years. Just lovely. Cheers.
Top 2 are 2 of my all time favourites. Springbank 12 in my market in Neherlands is like hen's teeth but was my favourite Springbank product for years until they changed the 18 in 2022. I also agree with the whole Springbank situation and availability. So much of their stuff seems to be snapped up by non whisly drinkers and the 12 was hard to find, but the 18 is just on impossible now even in the secondary market where the pricing is absurd. Ledaig and Tobermory are making legendary stuff and some of my favourite whiskies of the past years have come from the distillery. The Ledaig is incredible especially taking price into consideration. I have had a few Tobermory's that defy description - 22yo Muscat cask finished that remains one of my top 10 of all time. I am currently waiting for a 29yo Indi bottling of Ledaig to be delivered. Great choices As for the mystery pour - the 2023 version of SB10 was so much better than previous versions and I was lucky to find another one for a decent price yesterday. Haven't tasted the 24 version yet but if it rivals the 23, then it'll be a banger too.
I don't know, I like the anCnoc 18 more than the 24. The 24 is available at my local whisky store in Switzerland, and the entire stock has been untouched for months.
Being a scotch and bourbon drinker I have to chuckle a bit at the Springbank grievances (availability and price). Yes, it’s hard to find, yes it’s often overpriced. But…it doesn’t hold a candle to scarcity of the Pappy Van Winkle line or the BTAC line of American whiskey. People pay ridiculous prices and camp overnight for 2-3 days to get their hands on these. It’s beyond wild. It makes me appreciate the scotch world that much more.
Yeah I have a bourbon friend who's "hunter," albeit not one of the more hardcore ones. He's had to do ballots, queues, and sever-hour-long drives to land some of his favourite bottles. Too much effort for me, but I can't complain. It's thanks to him I have a bottle of Stagg and Blanton's Gold on the shelf here! 🥃
@ That’s a good friend! The level of effort, time and money required to land some of these bottles is incredible. Hardly worth the trouble most of the time.
Hey there. You can try a place called 酒條通. They have branches all across the city and they're quite cheap. Otherwise you can search Google maps for "Wine Collection" or "Top Whisky Inn." 🥃
Monkey shoulder for $30 is the Scotch of the year. You know why? You'll never suffer from an anxiety that you cannot replace it because it is either too expensive or too rare 😂
I am still annoyed that I walked by a Kilkerran 16, thinking I would get it on my next trip. You can all guess what was no longer on the shelf the next time I was at the store or any time since.
No, certainly didn't try all of these as 2024 releases, if there were any (exit Bunnahabhain). What are we doing? The best we can. Subjective generalizations abound... welcome to whiskytube. 😉
Slightly unrelated question… help a fellow little guy entrepreneur out… How in the world do we learn what the algorithm wants? Lol I’m not a Boomer or even Gen X but I’m starting to feel that way.
Hah to be fair I don't "know" what the algorithm prefers, it just seems to prefer certain things. I don't think anyone has really cracked the code as to precisely what makes RUclips videos tick. 😂
What about Tomatin 15, Glen Scotia 15, or Speyburn 15? OSWA has been peddling same old boring Scotch Whiskys, that aren’t readily available. It’s time to go for bolder much flavorful whiskys. Everyone knows Macallan is still king. Ledaig 18 can’t even compare to Tamatin 18 by the way.
I still can't get over the fact that Benromach changed the label to look like a knockoff of Dewar's White Label. All they had to do is fix the font on the original label! :(((
Friend, maybe you should hold the bottle of whiskey you are reviewing and it will be like you have really tasted it, otherwise you will be considered just cheating.. sorry
Thanks
No, thank YOU! 🙏🙏🙏
Number 1 has been chosen wisely.
Good choice can not agree more.
Great to have you back on line!!
Thanks buddy! Ledaig 18... Banger! 🥃
Thanks for the insights. I like that you factor in distribution and price. People have different pain thresholds when it comes to the pocket.
I really enjoyed watching this! My favorite whisky of 2024 has to be Laphroaig 10-year Sherry.
That's a good one! 🥃
Mine too 👍
Hi Jeff. I’ve been watching you for a long time, and today I decided to write. About a year ago you had a video about analogues of expensive whiskeys, and now I’ve been staring at Ardnamurchan. And I bought myself a release aged in rum barrels. What can I say, excellent release. Above average from what I tried. with a more or less adequate price of $100. I’ll try again! Good luck!
I've got a bottle of that Rum Ardnamurchan. It's a beauty! 🥃
@@Gwhisky
When I first tried it, I thought I was drinking glenrothes (I have a bottle of old paticular and Signatory Vintage) and what a surprise I was that it was Ardnamurchan =)
Thanks for this runthrough, Geoff.
Timing? ... I might rewatch after the spoil the Glasgow Whisky Festival brought with it has quiet out a little. Fun fact: joined a blind tasting where I ranked the people's choice second from last...
Slàinte mhath
Springbank 12 second to last, eh? Makes me wonder what else was in that lineup. 😉🥃
@Gwhisky at least 3 non grape polluted, let's keep it at that.
I found a boxed 2021 bottled Springbank 10 dusty last Saturday at a random liquor store next door to a concert I was going to in Chicago. Wild! Never hesitate to check some of these small stores if you have an extra 5 minutes. You never know what you’ll find. Great video thanks!
Damn nice find.
Awesome find! Old dusty independent shops are the best! 👍
In the Netherlands springbank 10 is easy to get for around 60-70 euros. Lucky for us.
Excellent summary of the OSWA nominees.
I pretty much ignore Springbank nowadays as, unless you go to the distillery, you can't find it. On the other hand, the wonderful Kilkerran is available everywhere
BTW, I was told that the anCnoc 18 and 24 has or soon will be discontinued.
Yeah SB is certainly a frustrating brand. AnCnoc 18 and 24 gone, eh? A bit sad, that. The 24, for all intents and purposes, has seemingly been gone from my market for the last couple years, with the 18 becoming increasingly sparse. Both good drops. I suppose I should stock up while I can if I manage to come across them. Cheers Reb! 🥃
I was a long time Springbank drinker but gave it up as here in Australia it became ( like the rest of the world) prohibitively priced and hard to get. Just recently the price dropped to AU$200 for the ten year old so I bought a bottle to benchmark against my regulars which run from AU$90 up to the occasional AU$150. I am VERY pleased to say that it is still delicious but certainly doesn’t stand out against my regs. Goodbye Springbank, I doubt we’ll ever meet again.
@@125ctg As I said, here in Israel, Springbank bottles are as rare as hen's teeth, but you can get Kilkerran everywhere and at reasonable prices, some bottlings which are hard to find in the UK. We are also fortunate that there are a lot of Kilchoman Single Cask bottlings here at prices cheaper than say The Whisky Exchange in London. Those are the exceptions to the rule.
Big fan of both the Bunna CS (loved the 2022 release and the 2023 is great too) and the Ledaig 18
A tasting set with these whisky’s would be phenomenal. That would be an awesome Christmas present. I must see what
My local shop has prepared this year. Springbank 12 cask is one I haven’t seen, and I did recently get the 10 for 65 GBP. Thanks for sharing 🥃
I love the bunna 12 cs but yeah, I definitely will pick up the Ledaig 18 in the next few weeks! I went for the 9cs last year instead, great whisky but do regret not going for the 18. Great to see it as your top pick, roll on Black Friday 😅 cheers!
Hey the 9 was a total banger, too! Looking forward to getting your take on the 18. Cheers buddy! 🥃
I knew you would choose Ledaig 18 as your number 1 hehe
Great list again and that lucky 7 seems like a good number hah
Keep up the great work my friend and the new design looks absolutely awesome!
I would have wished for the Paul Lanoise release of Ardnamurchan to be nominated instead of the CS. I think really deserves to be a nominee!
Cheers Buddy 🥃🥃🎩
Damn I'm getting too predictable. 😂
Totally agree about the Paul Launois! 🥃
Trying to decide if the basic Longrow heavily peated NAS isn’t just superb all round - and I have a few on this list open plus Longrow 21.
Did you try the Balvenie 18 PX, my favorite of 2024, pricey but oh so sweet
Geoff
Best whisky I’ve tried and bought numerous bottles of this year is “The Roseisle12 “ doesn’t figure any any lists except perhaps mine and yours , but good stuff, needs some water to open it up but when ya hit the sweet spot , loads of layers , not cheap , some may say not great value , but it is great whisky 👍
Couldn't agree more, Allan. Absolute banger, that one. 🥃
Hi Geoff. Would love to have the Kilkerran 16 but where I am it’s to expensive. My vote went to the Benromach CS, why, because you’re getting a very good malt at a decent price and I love the stuff. Slàinte Geoff.
I think the Bunna CS most people say is the best is the 2022. Followed by 2023 and last is the 2021.
Agreed
Fully agree on 2022 being the best so far. However, in direct comparison, I prefer 2021 over 2023, and thats what I also hear from many other whisky enthusiasts here in Germany.
The 2021 is the only one I haven't tried. But between the 2022 and 2023, it's not close.
I do prefer the 21 over the 23, have not tried the 22… But, hopefully, that will soon change if the stars align.
It’s taken me 2.5 years to get rid of the 2021! Not good! 22 & 23 are excellent
Out of the OSWA best scotch nominees, Ardnamurchan Cask Strength is the only one readily available here and is affordable at approx. $110 NZD. My people's choice pick was the Ardnamurchan Paul Launois. Love that whisky. Cheers!
All the nominees are great guys ))))
Agree! 🥃
@@GwhiskyCheers !
I would move things around a bit with 7- Ancnoc 24 (I've not tried it before) 6- Bunnahabhain 12 CS 5- Kilkerran 16 4- Ardnamurchan CS 3- Benromach CS 2- Springbank I completely agree with you number 1! Cheers dude!
Yeah that Ledaig 18 is a banger. Grabbed that bottle in Istanbul, actually. 😉🥃
In my market Kilkerran 16 is almost two times more expensive than 12, but I think it's worth it. In fact I don't enjoy 12 YO.
I plan to buy Ledaig for about 5 years now😂 maybe it is a good time to finally grab it. It-s around 120 € where I live, I think it's decent price.
Jeff, Sir…will you please do some Octamore reviews and thank you.
It's pricey, but perhaps eventually. 🥃
I have all 3 and the 2022 Bunna 12 CS is the easy winner
I would love to get the #1 whiskey you mentioned but unfortunately it is 196$ canadian , so unfortunate since it never makes it way where i live .
This is being sold at a store near
Me for 495 US! Insane
I got nothing against Springbank - honest! - just like I have nothing against centaurs, Bigfoot and little green men from Mars. They're all AOK by me.
AFAIK Bunna CS never makes it to Canada which is s total bummer..For the life of me I can't find a bottle of Ledaig 18 either! A good alternative to Ancnoc 24 is of course Ancnoc 18, still widely available and half the price. Another affordable 18 is Deanston, a distillery you're not really that into Geoff but I think it offers a lot of complexity and flavour for the money. Lastly Glenfarclas 15 needs to get more love imo. Probably my favourite sherried 15 year old these days. A dram I appreciate more and more over the years. Just lovely. Cheers.
Top 2 are 2 of my all time favourites. Springbank 12 in my market in Neherlands is like hen's teeth but was my favourite Springbank product for years until they changed the 18 in 2022. I also agree with the whole Springbank situation and availability. So much of their stuff seems to be snapped up by non whisly drinkers and the 12 was hard to find, but the 18 is just on impossible now even in the secondary market where the pricing is absurd.
Ledaig and Tobermory are making legendary stuff and some of my favourite whiskies of the past years have come from the distillery. The Ledaig is incredible especially taking price into consideration. I have had a few Tobermory's that defy description - 22yo Muscat cask finished that remains one of my top 10 of all time. I am currently waiting for a 29yo Indi bottling of Ledaig to be delivered.
Great choices
As for the mystery pour - the 2023 version of SB10 was so much better than previous versions and I was lucky to find another one for a decent price yesterday. Haven't tasted the 24 version yet but if it rivals the 23, then it'll be a banger too.
I guess Ledaig 18 will be your No 1 spot. great pick!! I have a tie B/W Ancnoc 24 and SpringBank 12 cask strength. (lean toward Ancnoc 24)
Fair choices. This was a tough video to put together as they're all brilliant whiskies! Cheers Tim! 🥃
Haven’t had any one of them. I wish I could find Springbank.
Good whisky, very good whisky but no longer worth the effort or price. It ain’t gold in a bottle so don’t be sad.
I don't know, I like the anCnoc 18 more than the 24. The 24 is available at my local whisky store in Switzerland, and the entire stock has been untouched for months.
Oooh! That blurry bottle rhymes with Shmingshmank. Get that money. And those clicks. Kisses and hugs... I mean...cheers.
Shmingshmank? Not even close. It's actually Springbank. Bet you're feeling pretty dumb right now...
Kisses and hugs back at you, babes. 😉🥃
@@Gwhisky 😂
Being a scotch and bourbon drinker I have to chuckle a bit at the Springbank grievances (availability and price). Yes, it’s hard to find, yes it’s often overpriced. But…it doesn’t hold a candle to scarcity of the Pappy Van Winkle line or the BTAC line of American whiskey. People pay ridiculous prices and camp overnight for 2-3 days to get their hands on these. It’s beyond wild. It makes me appreciate the scotch world that much more.
Yeah I have a bourbon friend who's "hunter," albeit not one of the more hardcore ones. He's had to do ballots, queues, and sever-hour-long drives to land some of his favourite bottles. Too much effort for me, but I can't complain. It's thanks to him I have a bottle of Stagg and Blanton's Gold on the shelf here! 🥃
@ That’s a good friend! The level of effort, time and money required to land some of these bottles is incredible. Hardly worth the trouble most of the time.
Hi Geoff! Do you have any recommendations where to get whisky in Taiwan for a good price?
Hey there. You can try a place called 酒條通. They have branches all across the city and they're quite cheap. Otherwise you can search Google maps for "Wine Collection" or "Top Whisky Inn." 🥃
I’m sorry, is that a deeply red Highland Park in the background? It looks like Campari 🤣
Lol no I have a travel retail 18 and a Dark Origins, and both have black tinted bottles. 🥃
Mmm ledaig 18 ❤ I think I saw springbank 12 for 200€ on Amazon, sounds like a rip off
1:19 -- come on, Geoff, aim higher! Make the world a better place through scalable, fault-tolerant, distributed databases and pixie dust :))))
Monkey shoulder for $30 is the Scotch of the year. You know why? You'll never suffer from an anxiety that you cannot replace it because it is either too expensive or too rare 😂
I am still annoyed that I walked by a Kilkerran 16, thinking I would get it on my next trip. You can all guess what was no longer on the shelf the next time I was at the store or any time since.
Ah damn. We've all been there. 🥃
Did you have 2024 bottlings of all of these? Did anyone? If not, what are we even doing?
No, certainly didn't try all of these as 2024 releases, if there were any (exit Bunnahabhain).
What are we doing? The best we can. Subjective generalizations abound... welcome to whiskytube. 😉
It's definitely Springbank
Slightly unrelated question… help a fellow little guy entrepreneur out… How in the world do we learn what the algorithm wants? Lol
I’m not a Boomer or even Gen X but I’m starting to feel that way.
Hah to be fair I don't "know" what the algorithm prefers, it just seems to prefer certain things. I don't think anyone has really cracked the code as to precisely what makes RUclips videos tick. 😂
@ I should’ve guessed. Lol! Skynet knows.
What about Tomatin 15, Glen Scotia 15, or Speyburn 15? OSWA has been peddling same old boring Scotch Whiskys, that aren’t readily available. It’s time to go for bolder much flavorful whiskys. Everyone knows Macallan is still king. Ledaig 18 can’t even compare to Tamatin 18 by the way.
😂😂😂🥂🥂🥂
I still can't get over the fact that Benromach changed the label to look like a knockoff of Dewar's White Label. All they had to do is fix the font on the original label! :(((
Friend, maybe you should hold the bottle of whiskey you are reviewing and it will be like you have really tasted it, otherwise you will be considered just cheating.. sorry
I do that for all my reviews. This isn't a review. It's a list.
You must be new to this channel, but no excuse to be so rude