People who learn of my hobby often ask me why I have so many bottles and why I drink a lot. I assume it’s something they ask to use as an ice breaker. And they’re just too used to the idea that drinking a lot means alcoholism. I always tell them it’s because I enjoy the flavors. It’s a quick and simple answer that often leaves most baffled. Baffled because most of them say all whisky taste the same to them. I know that everyday there are more enthusiasts getting into this hobby. Yet, their bafflement is a sad reminder that a lot of us are more or less still… alone. And that simple, sadly, does not mean easy. I want to give a more complete answer. However the answer I want to give often leads to more words. Ironically, the short answer is memory.  

I once heard that we never really forget memories.. We just can’t access them as easily. The brain was compared to a hall with many doors. Each of our memories locked behind each door. Our being unable to remember certain experiences is just our brain being unable to find the key to open the door to that memory. 

With a lot of us going through life quickly, whether we like it or not, we sometimes forget to take in the small details that help paint a better picture. Luckily, or not, things like music and drinking unknowingly help “tag” these experiences. I can’t easily recall much of my grade school and highschool experiences. It’s easier for me to recall more memories after I started drinking more seriously. It may just be recency bias but drinking seriously helped me learn to pay more attention to what is happening. In a way, drinking spirits is a way for me to simultaneously unlock doors to memories. For both flavor references and a half - assed way of time traveling.

After all this typing I just realized I should just add that one of the reasons why I drink is to remember. 

I wish we had the ability to choose to forget certain experiences though. I bought this bottle some time 2014 in Tokyo. Having only started collecting for at least a year and with Manila really having shit availability back then (the only single malts in major stores were the 3 big Glens), this was an early accidental holy grail for me. So I was milking this for a long time up until I started getting into rum and mezcal. That was like a red pill moment for me as it lead me down a rabbit hole of fermentation and distillation.

What used to be a holy grail for me is now just… meh whisky. Is my palate just different? Am I just more spoiled? Have I become more jaded towards whisky? Or is whisky just not as good anymore brought about by the demand?

Whisky Review: Signatory Vintage Laphroaig Vintage 1998, 15 Years Old, Un-Chill Filtered Collection

Aged: 15 years

Distilled on: Sept 22 1998

Bottled on: Feb 19 2014

Matured in: Refill Sherry Butts

Cask # 700383
Bottle # 129 of 787

Tasting Notes

Color: Waxed wooden floor

Nose: An initial sensation of peat, dates and toffee. The toffee smells close to a local candy I grew up on called Chocnut. Followed by smoked instant coffee and hints of stone fruits like peach and apricot. A lingering smell of something like coconut chips dumped on cream and some watermelon juice.  

Taste: Initial flavors of coffee bitterness, peat and smoke. Followed by more peat, oolong tea, dark chocolate. There’s this weird mix of a watered down syrup made up of a mix of cherries, strawberries and fudge you inconsistently get at the back.

Conclusion

Comparing the nose vs the taste of this is kinda like meeting a girl you met online for the 1st time in person. She turns out to be more shy in person than she was online. You know you coax that spunk she showed online out of her after spending more time with her. But there’s this nagging feeling that it won’t happen.

The nose on this was so good. It smelled so opened up. There’s this wonderful complexity I don’t always get in ex-sherry cask matured peatedIslay single malt. Then it falls short upon drinking it.  

Side note: I’ve been getting a lot more sulfur notes in sherry influenced spirits these days. I’m glad that this one didn’t give off any sulfur notes. Or else I would have made this 4/10.

Score: 7/10

Lead image courtesy of John Go.