by wchurst » Sat Oct 13, 2012 9:36 am
If you like smoke (Peat) & sweet (sherry) at the same time, you should be looking for Peated Whiskies that are finished/aged in Sherry casks.
...The longer it's aged in the sherry cask, the sweeter the taste is going to be (7-10 years is about the maximum 'sweetening' time.)
Sherry cask ageing is generally done as a single-cask, or dual-cask aging process; dual-cask aging is where they may initially age for 4 years
in white oak barrels, whish is then are transferred into used sherry casks for another 7 years...Producing a 11yr product.
NOTE: Additionally, many whiskies are also "sherry finished", meaning that they usually have less time in a sherry cask than an oak one, and this
will produce a 'slighter' sweetness. (Check your bottles for details on the amount of time spent in sherry casks to get a good idea of the sweetness.)
For "smoke", you really want to understand where you whiskies are coming from, as differant areas tend to peat differantly (almost a local recipe),
and the peats used can also be very differant themselves: Peats from the west sides of both Ireland & Scotland can be rather salty, giving your
tipple a slightly 'briney' flavor as well for a 'salty'. (Areas such as Islay & Campbeltown are well kown for salty peats.)
If you like a heavy smoke, Islay whiskies are some of the heaviest: Laguvalin, Ardberg, Bowmore & Laphroiag is great for this...but can be quite strong.
If you want a medium smoke, Campbeltown whiskies like Longrow (heavier) & Springbank (lighter) are both good choices...dependant on your taste.
For lighter smoke, and less saltyness, try some of the Speyside whiskies: Ardmore, Knockando & Macallan are some of their better known brands.
Hope this gives you a bit of a 'road map' to understanding whiskies, and finding more of those that may suit your particular tastes, then what fits the
taste buds of others...Not knocking any recommendations your may receive, but to understand what you like, you have to understand what goes into
the recipe a bit. (I spend a few years buying what everyone else recommended, but often found that many were not "quite right" to my taste.)
Cheers, and happy hunting !!!
Walter C Hurst