Newly available offerings

[Mike Davis]

As a relative newcomer to SMS, I rely on various web sites, magazines and
books to guide me toward good buys and good whisky.  It is quite frustrating
to see older bottlings mentioned but not what's currently on my retailer's
shelves.

During an afternoon trip to the store, I was shocked to see a price of $110
US on a bottle of Glenmorangie 18 which has essentially the same "rating" as
the 12 which is just over $40 US here.  But the 12 and the 18 have ratings
because they've been out for a while.  I have the Port Wood finish which
Jackson rated 87 if I recall, which is good, but not worth $60-some a bottle
for a 12, and I don't plan on trying any of the other finished bottlings,
mainly because of the price.  My a'bunadh Lot 16 for the same price blows it
away.

I picked up a bottle of Glenlivet 15 French Oak Reserve.  There is a
Glenlivet French Oak 12 which is rated by M. Jackson.  Is the 15 a "new" SM,
or is it just now able to be called a 15 because all of it was not bottled 3
years ago?  Malt Whisky magazine does have a review of this one on their 10
point scale.

As you can see, my choices are severely limited from the shelves, so I must
order some of my stock.  I just got a bottle from a highly respected Orkney
distillery from the SMWS, 17 yr, cask strength, which is lovely.

Weather here is still a bit hot for the Islays and a warm fire.  Looking
forward to fall.....

Mike Davis
mldavis2 AT sbcglobal DOT net
http://www.pbase.com/mldavis2/ 

--------------  https://www.lists.uni-karlsruhe.de/  --------------