Oban 14 is bottled at 43% ABV, which is a little “hot” on the palate for many.
Have you tried it with a little water? About 10% water to whisky takes the sting out of it and doesn’t make it cold, which often detracts from the flavours.
4 Likes
Wanted to try something new and walked out of my LLS with this recommendation from the “whisky consultant”.
I also based it on colour since there was 5 or 6 cask varieties of this one all in clear bottles except for one that was opaque.
Sipping as I write this, taste is exceptional.
5 Likes
That maybe outside the house but it does not appear to be the case inside.
Does your valve amp serve to raise the whisky to just the right temperature? 
1 Like
tubes have many ancillary benefits.
I currently have 3 bottles of Lindores in the house. A distillery exclusive Friar John Cor Chapter 1, A cask strength Friar John Cor Chapter 2, and a standard Lindores. I also have a bottle of the Aqua Vitae. My Dad and I have both had different bottles of The Casks of Lindores. They’re all very nice drams and great for when I want a change from my usual heavy peated or heavy sherried staples.
If you’re ever in Scotland, the distillery is well worth a visit. They reckon the first ever distillation of spirit in Scotland took place on the site back in 1494.
2 Likes
That’s a new one to me. The 16 yo is one of my staples. Seems it was primarily made for the US export market. Decidedly unavailable over here…
1 Like
it’s quite good; adds a touch of sweetness to the smoke. it’s a bit richer as well.
1 Like
I wasn’t sure what Aqua Vitae was, so I hit the Wikipedia. I thought this paragraph interesting:
Aqua vitae was often an etymological source of terms applied to important locally produced distilled spirits.[4] Examples include whisky (from the Gaelic uisce beatha ), eau de vie in France, acquavite in Italy, and akvavit in Scandinavia, okowita in Poland, оковита (okovyta ) in Ukraine, акавіта (akavita ) in Belarus, and яковита (yakovita ) in southern Russian dialects.
I finished the first Lindores (see a few posts above) and went to find another flavour per @Graeme_Finlayson reply (see a few posts above) and landed on this one. With a name like “Graeme Finlayson” you know the suggestions in whisky will be spot on. 
The selection was considerably less at the LLS compared to last time I was there so it’s selling.
This is actually very good. Tickles the palate while searing the nostrils in a good way.
The only thing I don’t like is the opaque bottle which yields to a misjudgement of quantity consumed (haha!:.
3 Likes
The various forms of “aqua vitae” (Latin for “water of life”) were originally distilled by monks, and then flavoured with herbs to make the spirit palatable. Ethanol was considered to be good for health at that time, however raw spirit has a rather unforgiving flavour.
Maturing spirit in oak casks is a (relatively) modern technique.
The term ‘whiskey’ derives from the Gaelic ‘uisce beatha’ – pronounced “uh-iss-keh beh-ah” – meaning water of life. This was abbreviated to ‘uiskie’ some time in the 17th century, which later became ‘whiskie’ and then “whisky.”
So whisky basically just means ‘water’ – kind of like ‘vodka’ does…
How this became ‘whiskey’ is up for debate – some people claim that the shift happened so that frugal Scottish printers could save a bit of cash by making the word a bit shorter – however most think that the spelling difference arose in the 1870s when Irish distillers tried to distinguish themselves from the much poorer quality Scottish whisky that flooded the market after the invention of the Coffey still. Others think the split is down to the slight difference between the Irish gaelic and the Scots gaelic – ‘uisce beatha’ as opposed to ‘uisge beatha.’
2 Likes
Picked up a new (to me) flavour of Dalmore today. A bit pricier but was on sale.
Gorgeous colour, pleasant bouquet. Doubt it’ll be a daily sipper due to normal cost.
4 Likes
A good friend you are to share! 
1 Like
Can I be your friend? 
1 Like
I assume you’ve tried it with a generous splash of water?
It’s NAS, but with a natural cask strength of only 55.8%, it shouldn’t be a young whisky.
I’ve had a few Arran malts, some decent, some, meh.
Maybe this is just one of the latter.
1 Like
Yes, it needs its water. I read it was about 7-8 years old.
It is “drinkable” with a smile. 
