I Blind Taste 4 x Eighteen Year Old Single Malt Whiskies
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ค. 2024
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Today was a special day. I decided to blind taste four single malt whisky all of which are Eighteen (18) years old! In the lineup we had:
• The Macallan 18 Double Cask
• Aberlour 18 Double Sherry Cask Finish
• Glendronach 18 Allardice
• Arran 18
All great whiskies but we had to pick a winner! Tune in to find out which whisky reigns supreme.
TIMESTAMPS
INTRO 00:00
THE WHISKIES 01:10
WHISKY #1 07:11
WHISKY #2 10:25
WHISKY #3 13:21
WHISKY #4 16:00
THE VERDICT 18:28
Whisky Macallan Aberlour Arran Glendronach
Loved this format. Would like to see more vids like this blind tasting 4 of similar category such as (Age Statement, NAS, or Barrel Finish). My only suggestion would be to get a set of Black, Dark Blue, or Dark Green Glencarin glasses for the blinds, because sometimes the color gives the dram away (I.e. current dark batches of Glenallachie vs anything else).
Believe me I'm not that good !!!
Now your describing my life style. I'm trying to buy at least four bottles for every style.
I made the mistake for my first blind flight of all New Your cask strength ryes, 90-100 % rye. So after the second round of tasting they were all the same .
Great blinds of 18 YOs MA. Arran 18 deserves the top spot in that line up.
What a dram!
great video! you betcha! Almost drank up all the Arran LOL. Cheers!
Fantastic video, this is a great comparison between all of these sherried whiskies.
Thank you!! Glad you liked it!
What a wonderful comparison video!!!!!
Hope that you do many more blind comparison videos.
More to come!
Great video. Love the format.
Great video, enjoy this format, please do more head to heads! Haha would have been fun to see your predictions as you went also, I know it didn’t go so well last time but it’s still entertaining to watch and to get more of an idea of your thought process.
Will do! Though I nailed them this time around. Promise!
It would be fun to see the winner of this shootout pitted against budget-18s like Singleton, Tomatin, Loch Lomond, and Glen Moray. All under $100 USD.
Nice idea. Maybe I can do one like that. Cheers.
These were big hitters today. Some of the less expensive ones have better specs. I almost picked up another Tomatin today, around $80.
Like the style and good review thanks for helping me to learn
Any time!
kickass vid, delightful viewing, great flow.
Thank you brother! And appreciate your membership. I will do the same!
four very sought-after 18s, great video. !!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I will get The Arran 18!
Good call!
Nice ranking - I totally agree👍 Do more tastings like this one (other 18s)😉
I will definitely do that!
Nice 👍🏻 I will have to check out Arran!
Please do!
PINky WINKY 😁. Im Not surprised. Its Winner for me as well. Love Arran at all. Fantastic juices! It was good fun, been really enjoyed. Just want more this kind of F2F wars 👍😁🥃🙋♂️
Noted! Will look into more head to heads.
The Arran 18 is 100% sherry matured. No bourbon cask involvement. Nonetheless, you made the right choice. Arran 18 is exceptional!
Thank you for pointing that out. Couple of sites I went to for research mentioned ex-bourbon barrels. I should have been more thorough.
I think the old bottling was blended from bourbon and sherry.. that's all I see near me. 2 shops still have a few bottles. The only new bottles I see are the 10 and some NAS.
I didn't know what I would do if I saw the braille Arran 18, cause it's going to be expensive. Now I know...BUY it!
@@jackthepickledhound that’s right - the old bottling was a mix of bourbon and sherry. Don’t be too sad about not seeing the new bottling yet. The old one was a beautiful whisky. It’s actually the one that started my obsession with scotch lol. Plus, they are very difficult to find now and the prices have gone up for those bottles. I would scoop some up!
What is the glass that you used in this tasting?
It's a Glencairn Copita - I had it personalised with my logo
Would you consider the Glenlivet 18 (older version, 43% ABV)?
I wouldn't have minded had I had some lying around.
What are those glasses you're using called? And are they better than the regular Glencairns?
They're the Glencairn Copitas. I prefer them to the regular tulip shape.
@@MaltActivist Thank you.
Hope I too get this in my collection 🍻
Good luck !
Try Deanston 18yo. Its a very good dram & can be bought in the UK for under £70. It's finished in Kentucky bourbon casks. Unchilfiltered, natural colour and 46.3% ABV.
I have my eye on that !
Well done bro... 👏
Thank you so much 😀
I'm not sure I ever had the pleasure to try Arran 18... Really makes me want to try it. Not too surprised Maccallan finished last, recent years Maccalan has been "over priced average whisky" sadly. Long gone are the glory days but the reputation keeps prices high. Interesting video, keep it up!
Cheers. You should get one.
Nice and fair review.
Arran is great stuff. Got the 21, but just ordered the 18 as well. The 18 is hard to get here in Europe, but is avaible at the Arran webshop.
So be quick If you want one. Glendronach also good, only the chill filtering is a shame. Still got all unchill filtered bottles
Good choice!
it's weird, the 18 is more expensive than the 21
My guesses were before you judged them…1 . Glendronach 2. Arran 3 . MacAllan 4. Aberlour. Aberlour bottling always seem to give me synthetic feel on the palate, and a saccharine aftertaste. Glendronch is absolutely sublime. Really enjoyed your review. Slainte 🥃👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I love this new Aberlour that they've come out with. The Glendronach is lovely but maybe a tad bit spice forward and thin on the mouth. Older Glendronach 18s were just awesome!
When blind tasting I think it’s not apples to apples without matching the bottle levels. I find that last 1/8 of a bottle if it has sat for more than a week slightly diminished as a general rule and peak flavor is about 1/3rd down in the bottle.
I agree but it's not an exact science - tough for me to make sure all bottles are at the same fill level
I’m a big fan of the Aberlour 18 as well
me too!
Arran 18 is great bottle!
My favourite is Glendronach 18 (2019) it was not chill filtered in 2019 and 2020, don’t know about now 2022.
Glendronach 18 in 2019 is totally different to the newest version. It was at least 23 years old and non-chill filtered.
I think 2021 onwards they started filtering
@@MaltActivist As far as I'm aware Glendronach haven't changed their production process. All they have done is removing the "non chill filtered" statement from the tubes. The reason for that is they have been using and still do (non chill) filtration methods that border chill filtration so they were afraid of being accused of providing false information on the packaging. The degree of filtration they use depends of the batch and they aim for a certain level of clarity for their malts. Apparently for some batches required filtration is so close to chill filtration that they don't feel safe keeping the statement on the tubes.
Cheers!
@@Nikolay_Nikolov You're right - that's what I read. I'm researching the process a little more and may even release video about that. That's why you would have noticed I didn't say chill filtration but a different type of filtration. Thank you for pointing it - that really helps! Cheers.
Please make a review on Arran remnant renegade 🙏
Right now I'm buying nothing but Arran before the price goes up even more. The Bodega the Bothy and the 10 are amazing for the price.
My personal choice is the Abelour...... By quite a margin.
Didn't do a blind tasting but tasted all of them during this video.
Like I said I loved the Aberlour but there was something endearing about the Arran 18 that I fell for.
Nice...Two of my possibles (I'm shopping 18+ Scotches) top out. Note that here, at least, the Arran 18 is $40 cheaper than the Abelour.
Oh wow!
What year is the GD18?
2021
@@MaltActivist I found that there was a decline from 2017 to 2018 / 2019. I haven’t tasted the 2020 or 2021 but I assume - given the general trend - that it is no longer quite the same whisky. I have a 2021 GD15 and it is very average.
I don’t know if you have had the Macallan 15 Double Cask but I prefer that to the 18. Not surprised that it was at the bottom of your list.
@@arygerman6122 I'll be honest I didn't drink them all like that. Though I remember drinking earlier 18 year old GDs that were sublime (2015, 16, 17) - I drank this one after a long time and found it to be lacking the older complexity. I have not tried the Macallan 15 Double Cask. Will try and get my hands on it.
You need the Glenfiddich 18! It is a winner. Great notes don’t sleep on it
Better than Glenlivet lower proof 18 and the arran IMO
I have it sitting in my closet ! Let me get to it.
@@MaltActivist love your content though
Tried it a few weeks ago. Meh. I had the Springbank 15 before the Glenfiddich 18 and obviously the Springbank absolutely destroyed it. I then tried the Ledaig 18, and although not as good as the springbank, it also obliterates the Glenfiddich 18. Taste is taste though. It's not bad either, but I have countless other 18 year olds or even younger whiskies that are so much better. I also had the GlenDronach 18 on the same day, all of these are on another league.
Finally love on TH-cam for Arran
Actually I gave a lot of love to the Arran QC !
@@MaltActivist Then I'll have to visit your channel more often
@@troylee3700 Please do!!!
Not surprising to see the Arran 18 win! Don't understand why the other 18 year old were bottled at 43% ABV.
Love the Arran 18
why the double oak macallan and not the sherry only
Cuz that's what I had !
@@MaltActivist I think itwould be a more fair competition with all core release.
KAPOW! chill filtered -once again takes a shot to the mug, if you will
true...
My absolute No. 1 is Caol Ila 18 yrs.
Good call!
Great video, not a big fan of Macallan, find a lot of their whisky, lacks real depth, no surprises with regards to Arran, what a dram that is, I am a big fan of Glendronach, though their recent 18yr release, is just not as good as the old nectar, which was sublime, never tried the Aberlour 18, so will have to check that out. I believe the Speyburn 18 is a cracker, though I have not had the pleasure of trying it yet.
People have been asking me to review Speyburn 15 and 18 -- so that's next on the agenda
you nees to try bowmore 2003 ED or Bowmore 1998 Sb you will understand after you will try it
Let me try and get my hands on them! Thank you for the suggestion.
As surely as the sun rises, Macallan keeps disappointing. A $500 bottle comes in 4th and a $100 bottle comes in 1st. SOMEthing has to give eventually.
You're so right. But when is the question!!!!
$500? Yikes! I paid +/- $325 about 9 months ago.
@@davecummings2424 which currency are you referring to? I'm in Canada.
That's U.S. dollars. Most I've ever paid for a bottle of booze, still waiting for the right occasion to open it.
@@davecummings2424 OK well $500 CAD is $370 USD. So not far off. It's heavily inflated compared to many others like Glengoyne and of course Arran.
Anyone watching this - it so depends on the yearly batch, they arent all the same.
very true
Hey man, would like to know your opinion on Dalwhinnie 15. Is it a decent dram to buy?
Yup, great dram! One of my favorites early on in my drinking career.
Though I hope the quality is the same as yesteryears
@@MaltActivist thanks a lot man, will grab a bottle today
Brilliant. 10yo next?
Lets do it !
so i'd presume this is one of the post-2019 glendronachs and no longer the powerhouses of back in the day?
That would be correct, sir
@@MaltActivist thank you
I agree with your rankings (though I’ve never actually tried Aberlour). I finally just found a bottle of Glendronach in my local wine store, for $219. I had to try it because I really like the Glendronach 15 & 21 years. I have to say though, I would not buy it again, because it tastes (to me) nearly identical to the Arran 18, which is $80 cheaper.
Makes sense....
I'm pretty sure you knew which was what
I really didn't - of course when I sipped them I had a pretty good idea.
And u can buy 4 of the other 3 whiskies for 1 macallan 18. What a joke macallan
Yup, that's the harsh reality of life!
Do you speak Hindi or Punjabi or any other language?
I can speak Hindi
@@MaltActivist cool
I'm traveling to UAE, can we meet?
Hey. Drop me a DM on my Instagram and let me know your dates. If I'm free maybe we can catch up for a quick drink. Cheers.
Tough job, very jealous
😁 haha good point
Macallan 18 is now an absurd $420 in Minnesota -- Way over priced!!!
Damn! That's crazy dude.
Glenlivet 18 will beat all of these.
damn! you think so?