March 2024 Digest

April 1, 2024 Whiskery Turnip

Welcome to a wrap-up of reviews from March 2024!

March is a month of contrasts— the winter winds and rain remain, but sunshine and warm days increasingly appear. Stacks of midterms and research project outlines pile up on my desk, while we anticipate a week of academic respite in the mid-month.

Spring Break is never as restful as it sounds and more than a few students come out of it more stressed than before. I find the trick is making oneself take a few days off, at least one at the first weekend and then a couple at the end. Otherwise, I ride the momentum to catch up on everything— grading exams, giving project feedback, and finishing up an article of my own.

Of course I still found plenty of time for whisky and friends. The month featured an excellent tasting event dedicated to a good buddy’s birth year—all 1989 vintage whiskies. It featured an eclectic lineup of predominantly single malts ranging across every region of Scotch. Reviews are sure to follow as I get a chance to taste things a second time.

On the whisky front, I kicked off the month with Laphroaig, before detouring to Japan and the Kanosuke Distillery, returning to Scotland for Craigellachie, and then finished the month off with Ardmore and a return to peat.

So what did I learn? I love my Laphroaig with a bit of age to it, something between 18-24 Years appears to be the sweet spot. Anything younger comes off as too brash, simple, or unrefined, and anything older a bit too mellow and soft. There are plenty of exceptions to that, especially considering how many Laphroaig I have reviewed, but there is a definite trend.

I discovered that Kanosuke is producing some fascinating malt— I never doubted it after all of the feedback I had heard, but it was fun to see for myself what they are up to. I would not rank their whisky as a particular favorite yet, but the 2023 Limited Release, with its inclusion of peated malt, hinted at something even better coming.

The Ardmore week was full of surprises, from a slightly disappointing 1977 vintage, to the wild and dirty 10 Year from SMWS “New balls please!” The real takeaway, however, was that unpeated Ardmore can actually be quite good. My prior experiences were all lukewarm at best. Yet, the 25 Year that Douglas Laing bottled for K&L was a delightful glass of sunshine.

That’s it for March, on to April and who knows what!