The Lemon Fool

...is probably a rather specialist whisky to most. I have been trying it out this evening (well, I suppose it is last evening by now) It is by far my favourite whisky, quite a clear colour, peaty and yet not too peaty, the smoothest flavour (or I suppose palate if you are into that sort of thing) that you could wish for. In other words, quite magnificent.

Why am I spending rather a lot of money on this? Because I think it is worth every penny (or even the several pounds I paid for it)

It is the sort of whisky that was probably drunk at the funeral of A D Wintle, referred to in the book by R V Jones, 'Most Secret War'.

Amazing the stuff I remember.

Dod

Apparently it was a bottle of Glenfiddich that was consumed at the time of Wintle's funeral. That was a shame.

Dod

Ardbeg! One of my FAVE whiskies about which I'd completely forgotten, thanks for reminding me!

Curiously I NEVER see it for sale nowadays which is why it slipped below my radar. For the last year or two I've been enjoying Bunnahabhain 12 year old 46.3%, and a stunning bargain in Waitrose at £30 special xmas offer. I dare not mention how many bottles I might have bought at this price

Even at normal price of £39 it is a screaming bargain IMO.

Edit to add: In Tesco, the Talisker xmas discount is an even bigger bargain. Normally £46 but £30 for Clubcard holders. IF you can find it actually on the shelf.

Been mostly drinking the Bruichladdich Classic Laddie recently
- which fills that "Islay but without the peat" hole for me

If I want the peat the lagavulin 8 is just next to it

-sd

Wow. Talisker at £30 is great value. Must see if I can find it. My Ardbeg is wonderful and the nice thing is that it tastes so great that I at least do not go overboard with it so no aftereffects. Too much respect for it at 46% for that anyway.

Dod

Ardbeg is truly wondrous stuff!

Back in the 70's, I walked into my boss's office and said "I've got another job, I'm leaving". "Oh, you'd better come in and talk about it" he said.
We chatted about the job for a few minutes, he realised he couldn't change my mind, and we got talking about holidays. I was about to go on a 2-week ramble around the scottish hills, and he was off to Islay. He went there every year with 4 other families, the wives and kids went to the beaches, and he and the other guys went round the distilleries. "You've got to try Ardbeg" he said, "best whisky in the world".

So off we went. At the end of my 2 weeks, I met up with some friends in Fort William, who were going to give me a lift back to Fife. We walked down the high street, looked in a shop, and there, in the window, was a bottle of Ardbeg. "That's mine", I declared, went in and bought it. We got to Glen Etive to camp overnight. Pretty filthy weather, so there were the three of us in a one-man tent supping Ardbeg from tea-stained enamelled mugs. Magical!

Then, in the late 80s, I was working in France. After 4 years, it was time to come back to scotland, so I had a leaving do in France. I was a member of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and had acquired a bottle of cask-strength (66%!!!!!) Ardbeg, and the contents disappeared rapidly. I swear most of it was consumed by our secretary, who was the meekest, mildest lass you could imagine, and there she was, drinking it neat!

Great memories.

I did once try 18yo Ardbeg, but far too smooth for my liking, all the character had been knocked out of it. Much prefer the 10yo

For Mike4..... I often see Ardbeg in Sainsbury's. Maybe that's just up here in scotland.

--kiloran

All images from Tesco website.





Or for those with a slightly bigger wallet...hurry, there's only one left in stock!

ReallyVeryFoolish wrote:47 quid? Heck, you could get two or three decent-ish bottles of wine for that!

(I'll collect my coat on the way out).

RVF

Well, on offer for £37. That is great value! I paid just under £45 for my recent bottle of this very Ardbeg. Worth every penny.

Dod

I used to drink Suntory Yamazaki in the Two Brewers in Windsor. Not the 55 year old though
The young stuff is c £60/btl and the 12 yr old is c £120/btl

AleisterCrowley wrote:I used to drink Suntory Yamazaki in the Two Brewers in Windsor. Not the 55 year old though
The young stuff is c £60/btl and the 12 yr old is c £120/btl

£639,600 a bottle!

There's no way that stuff is worth a penny more than £639,599.99 imho.

I just checked the Dekanta site and they only have a 50 yr old left at a reasonable £398k
https://dekanta.com/product-category/di ... ice=510000

The 55 yr old is c £23kfor a single (25ml) whereas the 50 yr old is a much more affordable £14k

If you children don't get to bed straight away I think Santa will not bother dropping off your pressy's

But ... could one buy a £39 ten year old bottle and keep it for 45 years?

What's the ROI on that?

AiY

AsleepInYorkshire wrote:If you children don't get to bed straight away I think Santa will not bother dropping off your pressy's

But ... could one buy a £39 ten year old bottle and keep it for 45 years?

What's the ROI on that?

AiY

Depends if they end up mothballing the distillery
- worked well for bottles of Port Ellen

-sd

servodude wrote:

AsleepInYorkshire wrote:If you children don't get to bed straight away I think Santa will not bother dropping off your pressy's

But ... could one buy a £39 ten year old bottle and keep it for 45 years?

What's the ROI on that?

AiY

Depends if they end up mothballing the distillery
- worked well for bottles of Port Ellen

-sd

Mothballs taste crap. Why don't we just buy the distillery and hedge out our bet.

AiY

AsleepInYorkshire wrote:

servodude wrote:

AsleepInYorkshire wrote:If you children don't get to bed straight away I think Santa will not bother dropping off your pressy's

But ... could one buy a £39 ten year old bottle and keep it for 45 years?

What's the ROI on that?

AiY

Depends if they end up mothballing the distillery
- worked well for bottles of Port Ellen

-sd

Mothballs taste crap. Why don't we just buy the distillery and hedge out our bet.

AiY

Sounds like a very good plan

servodude wrote:

AsleepInYorkshire wrote:

servodude wrote:
Depends if they end up mothballing the distillery
- worked well for bottles of Port Ellen

-sd

Mothballs taste crap. Why don't we just buy the distillery and hedge out our bet.

AiY

Sounds like a very good plan

I am drinking to that

Merry Xmas

AiY

kiloran wrote:Ardbeg is truly wondrous stuff!

Back in the 70's, I walked into my boss's office and said "I've got another job, I'm leaving". "Oh, you'd better come in and talk about it" he said.
We chatted about the job for a few minutes, he realised he couldn't change my mind, and we got talking about holidays. I was about to go on a 2-week ramble around the scottish hills, and he was off to Islay. He went there every year with 4 other families, the wives and kids went to the beaches, and he and the other guys went round the distilleries. "You've got to try Ardbeg" he said, "best whisky in the world".

So off we went. At the end of my 2 weeks, I met up with some friends in Fort William, who were going to give me a lift back to Fife. We walked down the high street, looked in a shop, and there, in the window, was a bottle of Ardbeg. "That's mine", I declared, went in and bought it. We got to Glen Etive to camp overnight. Pretty filthy weather, so there were the three of us in a one-man tent supping Ardbeg from tea-stained enamelled mugs. Magical!

Then, in the late 80s, I was working in France. After 4 years, it was time to come back to scotland, so I had a leaving do in France. I was a member of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and had acquired a bottle of cask-strength (66%!!!!!) Ardbeg, and the contents disappeared rapidly. I swear most of it was consumed by our secretary, who was the meekest, mildest lass you could imagine, and there she was, drinking it neat!

Great memories.

I did once try 18yo Ardbeg, but far too smooth for my liking, all the character had been knocked out of it. Much prefer the 10yo

For Mike4..... I often see Ardbeg in Sainsbury's. Maybe that's just up here in scotland.

--kiloran

Love that story - thanks for sharing.

Goodness me, I bet that SMWS bottle would fetch a pretty penny on the auction sites today. But in my opinion you did the right thing - whisky is there to be drunk.

Have you tried the Ardbeg Uigeadail? - a fine example of a non-age statement whisky.

Mike4 wrote:For the last year or two I've been enjoying Bunnahabhain 12 year old 46.3%, and a stunning bargain in Waitrose at £30 special xmas offer. I dare not mention how many bottles I might have bought at this price

Even at normal price of £39 it is a screaming bargain IMO.

Not familiar with that, but I'm taking delivery of a bottle tomorrow.

Sainsburys online order needed bringing above £40 (from £thirtysomething) to reduce the delivery charge from £7 to £1. So I thought a bottle of something interesting would do the job, and found this unfamiliar Islay on offer ... at £25/bottle.

Now I really ought to find out how to pronounce it!

UncleEbenezer wrote:

Mike4 wrote:For the last year or two I've been enjoying Bunnahabhain 12 year old 46.3%, and a stunning bargain in Waitrose at £30 special xmas offer. I dare not mention how many bottles I might have bought at this price

Even at normal price of £39 it is a screaming bargain IMO.

Not familiar with that, but I'm taking delivery of a bottle tomorrow.

Sainsburys online order needed bringing above £40 (from £thirtysomething) to reduce the delivery charge from £7 to £1. So I thought a bottle of something interesting would do the job, and found this unfamiliar Islay on offer ... at £25/bottle.

Now I really ought to find out how to pronounce it!

To my palette (lol) it tastes rather like Singleton, but more so.

I think around here it sells really well as they have ramped up the bargain price to match most other single malts now.

I think it is pronounced "boona Harven" or summink like that, but how should I kno.

Annoyingly Ocado don't sell it, so I'm chugging my way through several bargain bottles of Ardbeg bought pre-xmas.

Cheese!!

UncleEbenezer wrote:Not familiar with that, but I'm taking delivery of a bottle tomorrow.

I spoke too soon. Got my receipt from them this morning, and they don't have it. I took the precaution of saying no substitute: I don't know what they might substitute for an Islay single malt! Guess I'll have to try again another time - if the opportunity arises.

Still, it means I get to pay the cheaper delivery charge on a £37 general food order. And the Talisker hasn't run out yet, so it's not desperately urgent.