Dangerous Topic... | Top 7 Diageo Whisky Brands
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- Опубліковано 20 вер 2024
- I've got a list today, folks. I'm looking at my favourite single malt whiskies from Diageo. They have a lot of famous brands, and I've chosen the distilleries that I think put out the best whisky. Curious to see how people react to this one...
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Talisker is like that one family member who has recently joined a cult. I love them dearly and we still have a good time now and again on the rare occasions when they show their true personality. But then they start talking about how the leader-guy tells them that raising prices and watering yourself down is the path to higher consciousness and I start to tune them out again.
How does this make so much sense.. 😂
1) I feel the same way as everyone else about Diageo 🙃 2) It's still ok to like the malts - they are still made by the locals who live and work there, for the most part. 3) The sad reality is that if it wasn't for these whale investors, some of these distilleries would've been gone even before some of us had the chance to taste their malts. Think of all the beloved distilleries that went extinct due to the Prohibition, the world wars, and then the Whisky Loch. Making awesome product is not a guarantee of financial success, unfortunately.
Hate what they've done to Talisker 10
It's a £30 whisky and that's it. Coloured and chill filtered 10 year old churned out by the gallon every day. I'm done with it.
I live in Central Texas and Diageo just purchased Balcones Distillery in Waco, which is about an hour north of me. The make some great single malts as well as corn whiskey, bourbon, rye, and rum. Diageo hasn't messed with them so far and I hope that they don't. I almost always have something from Balcones on my bar.
...so far...
I'm hoping they will leave Balcones to do their thing and just give them better distribution. I would love to see any Balcones in Canada (Ontario)
I'm quite nervous about Diageo's takeover of Balcones. I've been buying their stuff since the Chip Tate days. Our first scare was when he was booted out but Jared is such a cool guy and whisky geek that was a good transition. I like the way the company has grown and I don't think they would have sold out to Diageo without some solid reassurances. With any luck they will just leave Jared in charge of the distillery and inject some money into marketing and distribution. The prices of the core range have come down and stabilised at a good point. The last thing I want to see is Diageo screwing it up by putting the prices up.
I hadn't heard that. Surprising, but I can't blame the Balcones founders for selling out. I enjoy their True Blue corn whiskey.
@@andyking894 fingers crossed.
Talisker 10 is starting to be back on regular offer for £30 in the UK. It's hard to complain at that price, still, to be honest. And about your question on whether the price is settling, yes, out here in the UK they're definitely coming back down. Maybe not permanently yet, but there are a lot of offers. Makes me wonder what the Special Releases price is going to be this year...
Another great list Geoff. Personally I would have had Lagavulin #1, Talisker #2 & Oban #3, but that’s just my taste.
I don’t hate Diageo, but I do wish some of the special releases were priced better.
Lagavulin 16 still gets up around $200-$220 AUD here in Australia, although you can sometimes find it as cheap as $130-$140 on sale. Very expensive by comparison to the $100-$110 we were paying only 5 years ago.
F Diageo😂 but Oban - Caol Ila (Port Askaig)- Clynelish. Used to be Lagavulin Lagavulin Lagavulin… I used to hunt the 12 CS every year but for last couple years i have been skipping that. Funny thing is now you don’t have to hunt them , there are like 5 different batches still available. But there’s always other whiskies 🥃
Clynelish is my favourite out of the Diageo camp.
Hi Mr. Geoff, you leave me speechless....
Great list. And like Diageo or not , but without them (or there pre decessors) the whisky world would be quite different then it is now.
So credit to them for that.
And of course I will not argue your choice for the number one spot of the list, but that is our secret. 🤫
Looking forward to that review for which your are teasing us longer and longer.
Hope you have a great weekend!!
Ah, I made a similar point before I went to read the other comments. People can rail against "corporate greed" all they want, but without it we'd probably all drink cheap industrial vodka, in excessive amounts :)
I love Glen Elgin! I was with a group that visited the distillery a few years ago during the Speyside Whisky Festival and we had the 19yr old Centenary as our dram! Wow!
I love the Caol ila. IBs in particular. But also the 15 and 18 that are non-peated - love them and just picked up 2 more at auction (really, I couldn’t resist - they are delicious). Lagavulin is great, just expensive. Love the 16 but also the 8 which some days I prefer to the 16. Price just keeps going up in Canada, not down. Some taliskers are great. Picked up a talisker IB single cask a few years back on the Royal Mile: it was cheap and is truly stunning. Oban. Hmmm. Yeah it’s good but I wouldn’t put in no 1 - maybe I haven’t tasted enough of them! I’ll try a few others. Tx Geoff.
Personally, I'd have rated Clynelish higher. However, there seems to be a Roseisle missing from this list (which is the correct answer to "best Diageo whisky")
Appreciated the opening comment about “It’s only drink…”.
Lots of rants and negativity out there about whisky. No doubt that it’s expensive these days, like everything, but to say that that whatever brand would be so much better if it were $10 cheaper, just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Thanks for this list, Geoff.
No1 by a landslide for me is...
...the IB's. And then my favourites are Linkwood, Mannochmore and Caol Ila (and for the record, preferably refill bourbon)
No OB's for me.
Slàinte mhath
What's IB and OB?
@@allydea Original Bottler and Independent Botter
I really can't knock Talisker and Lagavulin, despite all the recent controversy. Their whiskies have so much character. For me, Dailuaine is missing from this list. I'm a big fan of the IBs I've picked up from the distillery.
Great thought provoking list, Geoff.
I hate their pricing, but I like their whiskey. Shame I haven't tried the old Talisker 10 cause even this one is a good one for me. 😅 I would love to try lagavulin 8 but it's 82€ and 16 is 90-105€ a little too much what I would like to pay. I Can't believe the 2nd time I knew what whiskey you had as a mystery dram. Thanks for all your videos 🙏 keep doing good work 💯
I think as long as the Whisky tastes good, it's fair game. My favourite Diageo brand would be Talisker, but it's also the only one of these distilleries, where i drank a few of them. Just got the parley, haven't opened it yet, but looking forward to. Second place would be clynelish, than lagavulin, caol ila and at the end would be oban. I only know the 14 years old, might have to give it another try.
I like most of diageo's distilleries but will go for indie bottlings. Favorites: linkwood, benrinnes, clynelish, mortlach, caol ila, glen ord
The Lagavulin 16 is a 190 USD where I live, in India 🥲 and I got one for myself from the US. You have very high quality humour and I thoroughly enjoy your channel @Gwhisky
Hi Bonaboms, thanks for the help! Come to think of it I think I remember Ralfy mentioning Whisky Base the way he used The Whiskey Exchange for his Distillery Watch. I'm from the US , and I don't think they ship here, but I can surely use it for research. Thank you!
You had me sweating there, Geoff. Heading into number 1 and no Oban. But yeah, the 14 is pretty dynamic. It should suit a wide range of malt drinkers.
I recently had the 2020 Cardhu Special Release. Easily the best malt I’ve had this year. I’ve tried about 65 different drams this year so it’s defn a compliment.
How can one hate a company that puts out stuff like Lagavulin 12 Special Release 2021. Best bottle I’ve ever owned🥳
Ironically, today I have opened my first Benrinnes, a 19 year old expression from Alexander Murray & Co. So far, I'm loving it. So your video is well-timed for me!
Great! Enjoy! 🥃
Yeah love Talisker Parley. One of my favourite whiskies at the moment. Also like the Talisker special ed octopus, though not as much. Oban is great too and agree with both the special eds there. I need to try more from Lagavulin and Caol Ila though. Total blind spots for me. I just wont buy 40-43% offerings anymore so its tough with them
Thx for the great and informative video. I dont especially like or dislike Diageo, I have some of their whiskies on the shelf. My favorite is also the Lagavulin 16, although it took a few drams before I grew accustomed to its medicinal taste. The first bottle I bought a few years back was for 44 euro's, later on it became 90 to a 100 Euro over here (The Netherlands). I was lucky to buy my second for 66 euro's and at this time the cheapest way to get it, is online for 72 eur. And the 8 years for 53 euro.
Some fun jabs and Interesting thoughts Geoff👌 great video
My top three would be
3. Clynelish / Talisker
2. Mortlach
1. Caol ila
Caol Ila because it makes so much peated stuff whose quality we take for granted and that big body of work enables port askaig, finlaggan and other unnamed islay expressions to exist
Good point about taking Caol Ila for granted. Beautiful house style! 🥃
Love Diageo… without them I wouldn’t even be in the whiskey world. Many a few good stills would have been mothballed. And they probably also attracted way more investment from competitors into the scene. I’ve personally known some of the folks there, all of them whiskey lovers - a lot of the times corporate is just a scapegoat for whatever consumers don’t like about a whiskey. And it’s a shame
Question: why is Diageo controversial? Is it mostly for how they handled Talisker and its offerings?
I’d choose Lagavulin, Talisker, Caol Ila as my faves on this terrific list!
Lol you really are a fully blown peat head these days, eh? 😉
I believe that the price for the Lag 16 has been stable around my area here in US , $94 USD. It was $100 last year, which is good. Great video!
I’m along the same lines as you with Caol Ila, Laga and Oban as ascending top 3. Caol Ila was the first “good” whisky I enjoyed albeit quickly overshadowed by Bunna. Laga 16 went from 49£ in Tesco to empty shelf for a year. Then other channels at 85£ now seeing sometimes at 64£ 👍 interesting list as the first three I’ve never tried 🤔
Not sure who gets angry over whiskey... if folks do get ranty...perhaps whiskey aint for them. Whiskey... regardless of producers or corporates...the product is meant to be fun...tasting, seeing which neurons switch on which associations, challenging your palate with what hits or misses, chatting with mates about it, forgetting the madness and angry disaster of the world for wee second while you let a few drams tumble you into flavour-town - this be what the water of life brings. On that note... I have a thing for campfires it seems...and no matter what I try whether its a PC10 or LAPH10 or a myriad of peaty/smoky players... I keep coming back to the Lagavulin 8 - its just hits me right in the feels. Over and out.
Great list Geoff!
My top three would be Clynelish, Lagavulin and Mortlach.
Ah, Lagavulin 16. Not the first whisky I enjoyed, but the first whisky that made me exclaim, “wow, this is fantastic!” Yes, the price is now more settled, though still higher than it was once. Another bottle is a steady temptation, even though more since have caused me to utter similar exclamations.
In my expensive Korean market, laga 16 was around 150USD by late last year. Now it’s dropped down to around 100USD, like many if not most bottles here, which should have happened earlier. Even Glenfarclas 105 used to be 120-130USD and now it’s around 80. It’s hard to be a whisky drinker in this country!
Yeah Korea is expensive for whisky. Luckily it's a short flight from Japan and Taiwan. 😉🥃
Lagavulin 16 went up in Australia to AU$225 and in the last 12 months it’s dropped to where you can find it at under AU$150.
That's good news! 🥃
I've heard some folks online say that Clynelish is not the same anymore, that it's lost its characteristic waxy notes that made it distinctive.
I knew it was coming but Geoff you mixed up 2 and 1. I would have to add Linkwood as an honorable mention. I know they don't have a distillery bottling but they are everywhere on the IB market and just so so good. I'd have to find a way to put them on this list
Lagavulin 16 is about $100 in sweden, thankfully the Ron Swanson edition is due in week at the same price!
Great show Geoff. I would have had Clynelish and Mortlach in the top three along with Lagavulin. If something tastes great then I couldn't give a flying f**k who owns the brand. The presentation could be better on a lot of the Diageo whiskies but if it's at a good price then why not?
Nicely ranked, Geoff. Plenty of good stuff out there from a frustrating parent company ...
Great video, Lagavulin 16 is $75 in my area (PHX)
Where I live (southern California), Lagavulin 16 has recently come down a lot. It used to be a bargain, and it's getting there again. I wish it had better specs, but it has a good flavor. In general, this is my impression of Diageo official bottlings - the flavor is reliably good, but presentation could be better. I look for independents. I have a few Signatory cask strength bottlings from Diageo distilleries, and I have a Cadenhead Caol Ila that is very nice. I think Diageo is sitting on some great distilleries, but the specs on most of the official bottlings are geared more toward the general drinker than the community of whisky nerds. At present, my favorite Diageo distillery is Balcones. Since Diageo bought the distillery, the bottles that have come out so far have kept to the good specifications (higher ABV, non-chill filtered, no additives) that Balcones has been known for. I recently picked up a bottle of Balcones Mirador Eclipse single malt, and it is wonderful. Hopefully, Diageo will leave well enough alone at Balcones and allow the people there to continue making great whisky. As long as they do, I'll keep buying Balcones whisky. If they dumb it down, then I'll find something else to buy.
I prefer flavour over specs every time. And so do you if you drink blind tastings. Better having weak specs and tastes brilliant rather than a ralfy holy trinity that tastes like shit.
You right Geoff ,Laga is expensive , but very good whisky ))).
Diageo own half of the distilleries with worm tubs so if, like me, you enjoy a dram with a bit of funk then they simply cannot be ignored. Though you do need to seek out the more craft-like presentations.
Given that Glenfarclas is a family-owned sleeper brand (as opposed to the corporoate-owned Diageos, Segraams, Camparis, Brown Formans, etc.), the people who are complaining about Diageo aren't actually buying from the private, non-corporate-owned distilleries.
It would help if the core lineup wasn’t all 43% in the US
i guessed the laga ;; and yes - it is being discounted ;;
Best brand is Balcones. Everything they make is at least 46%, no color and non chill filtered. They have a bunch of cask strength expressions at fair prices
Number 1 lagavulin. ❤ nice top
Maybe port ellen? 😂
Diageo also acquired Balcones a few months ago. Maybe some American (and maybe Indian too) single malt reviews in the future?
I've got some bourbon reviews coming up. I've yet to try Balcones as it's not sold here. 🥃
The Clynelish 16 is incredible! Really a great whisky. If you come across this beauty, I'm sure you'll love it. Of course it's not cheap 😢. It's Diageo... 😅
I'm sure it's fantastic! 🥃
I can tell you that since 2020 Lagavulin has increased in price, peaking at €109,99 which it still holds. I do think it will go down slightly. but like mentioned in the video, this is in my market and also within our company.
Top-7 brands: Talisker, Talisker, Talisker, Talisker, Talisker, Talisker, and Talisker. What do you mean they have other brands? It’s the only one that matters!
In my market, Lagavulin 16 still peaked at $190 CAN....no expectation of it ever coming down...
solid choices as usual
Thanks 🙏
Oh my friend I really love mortlach … maybe because it was one of the first non Johnnie walker scotch’s that diageo brought to Mexico . Best wishes!
Mortlach is good. Glad you enjoy! 🥃
I would love to try the oban 14 , but as of writing this, the price is currently 152$ Canadian. I started with Talisker myself , when the new label came out, i was still new to the whiskey world and i was unaware how inferior it would be , had i known, i would have bought as many old labels as i could, the price at the time was 80, now it's 120 . It breaks my heart since it was such a good dram and one i also feel nostalgic for, let's not even mention the 56 north.
Wow that's way too expensive. Here in Taiwan Obama 14 is CAD $60. Those 🇨🇦taxes man...
Lagavulin 16 is £62 on amazon uk
No problem with their whiskies at all, lots of good stuffs.
Personally don't care much abv, ncf, coloring, as long as the price is right, however it doesn't apply to Diageo.
Hot Topic this one Gwhisky and nice picks
I just picked up a bottle of the lagavulin 16 for $80 in the US. I have avoided it for a long time because it was outrageously priced at well over 100. Havent opened it yet but hoping b its ss good as i remember.
Linkwood is also beautiful
I agrese with your picks. I also consider Oban 14 very much great.
But the prices (in Europe). The prices. Can't ever choose those malts over othes. Diageo has to stop.
Surprised at how much I loved the Oban 18.
I like the Clynelish 14, Mortlach, Port Askaig, Talisker, Laga other than the16, but not Oban 14.
Yes lagavulin 16 peaked at 170 in my country last year and now its 150.
Of course I hate Diageo but lagavulin is the one that make me a whisky lover/snob.
One curious thing about lagavuln is, I've never seen someone saying is bad. There's a lot of "not wat it used to be" and "f* diageo" and "overly priced" but not a single "its bad"
That makes me think about what a delicatessen would be a natural presented laga16
Diageo might have bad stats but they do have some delicious stuff
Agree! 🥃
Haven't tried Oban or Clynelish yet. I would have Caol Ila, Lagavulin and Mortlach in the top 3, followed by Benrinnes (IB) and Talisker. I bought my bottle of Lagavulin 16 back in October 2022. It was retailing for around $158 NZD, but I got a bit of a discount and paid about $152. Today I see 2 retailers have it for $155, and others are more expensive. So, it hasn't really changed much in price here. Cheers!
I got a bad Benrinnes 18 year IB from Sutherland. So not good. I’d put in Linkwood over them. Other than that I agree with the list.
Exciting ! Ready to watch! I admit I adore some Diageo brands!! LAGAVULIN!!!
Hi Christine. Do you really love their stuff, for the money they charge? I'm talking about their OB stuff rather than IB's
I admit I will always buy Lagavulin 16 even at $200 Canadian after taxes. Yup it’s a lot and I love a couple of Talisker expressions. The Lagavulin 16 was my outstanding gateway scotch into scotch and peated scotch. I understand some people disagree. It’s such an elegant, refined peated scotch although I love the rougher younger peated scotch as well!! Cheers!
Lagavulin 16 just went up 20% here in Norway and is now 114 USD for a 0,7 litre
RIP. Heldigvis er det mye annet å velge mellom!
@@torbjornkarlsen Absolutt
The price of lagavulin 16 had gone crazy now a days
Well I am probably a Diageo fan as I like Caol Ila, Talisker, Lagavulin and Oban😂😂😂😂. (Do or did they have co-ownership of Bushmills, because I like that one to?)
Talisker at its best was fantastic. I preferred the cheaper Storm to the 10 - more distillate driven, less refined, more characterful. 10 was denuded, too smoothed out, too overproduced.
looking over their lineup i see theyre the brand of high school parties with smirnoff, seagrams7, and the cap'n
The only complaint I have about Diageo is they messed with the Distiller's Editions, all NAS now. I got the Talisker and it was nowhere near as good as previous years so now I won't even try the rest.
Clynelish got is equal their 10yo special release (unfortunately colored), very enjoyable and half the price.
As for lagavulin 16 here in Italy is 65€.
Oban is my favorite too ❤
A special thanks to whisky exchange London borough mkt guys to have let me try the port askaig 8 year expression last month, I love caol Ila, I didn't know pa is made from that
I’m with you Geoff. I’ve gone through all the emotions with Diageo. My hate for that company stems back to the 80s when they closed some of my favorite distilleries. But that’s ancient history and now I’ve come to the point where I just accept it. There’s nothing that can be done.
Yes there is, you could stick to whisky from different distilleries and independent bottlings.
@@torbjornkarlsen I understand your point and I generally prefer and have lots of indie bottlings. But I’ve only seen a Lagavulin indie once and never a Talisker indie. I rarely buy anything anymore anyway.
Here's two independently bottled Taliskers available in Norway. No Lagavulins though. The two Taliskers are rather expensive (for being only 10 and 11 years old anyway), but I'm keeping half an eye open for a good deal on an IB Talisker should it appear.
Great to see you cato and my opinions are very personal. Diageo aren't a whisky company, they're just an organisation that invests in the market.
I like Cragganmore and dailuenie but its only available as an IB
Lagavulin 25y is one of the best whisky i ever had😋
Fancy fancy! 🥃
I have most of the bottles you spoke of, and like them all. I have a few IB, and always keep an eye out. I got a bottle of 11 yr. Benrinnes by Signatory. I liked it very much, but it tasted a little thin. It was at 43%. I though I didn't had to worry about that with an IB. Many times when I buy online they don't an ABV or a zoom. How are you supposed to decide?
@@JohnS-d1f maybe you knew this already but when im confronted with that dilemma i simply try and find the bottling on whiskybase or other whisky databases using the distillation and bottling date
Caol Ila ,Laga ,Clynly,Tali and Elgin my favorit whisky mr.Geoff ))) Cheers !
To answer your question, Lagavulin 16 is 90 USD in Houston, TX these days. Probably peaked at 100
I am in Korea, and Lagavulin 16 gets cheaper... about 100 USD now (it used to 150 USD until early this year)
That's good news! 🥃
Laga 16 is $90 in the US.
Yes Diageo owns a number of fantastic distilleries. Talisker, Caol Ila and Lagavulin would be in my top three with Talisker at the top, before the label and recipe change to Talisker 10.... I have IB Caol Ila 12 cask strength that is incredible. Laga 11 Charred Oak is amazing. And poor Talisker 10 has been diminished as a result of the bean counters at Diageo that don't care about their customer base. Such a shame. The new T10 is still good but no where near where it used to be. They messed that up big time. Diageo deserves all the shade their are getting...
They ain’t getting any shade from their shareholders.
@@125ctg they will be after people stop buying their product as much because they degrade the quality and raise prices at the same time.
Lagavulin 8 is currently £38 on Amazon, rude not to at that price
Geoff taught me to hate diagio. I didn't even know what it is before. lol
I even like Blair Athol. But I agree, Oban, Mortlach, Lagavulin and Talisker are still among my favourite whiskies to drink. I know the specs are either bad or meh but I do enjoy their character and Lagavulin 16 is probably my favourite whisky in the world still.
Great! I'm happy to drink a 43% whisky if it's got the flavour I like. 🥃
I won’t say anything OB from Diageo… IB only
God bless Balcones!!
Never tried one. It's on the wishlist! 🥃
Lag 16 usually hovers around $110 near me, which isn't terrible for a 16yo product, but considering it's nerfed nearly to death, I'd rather spend more money on something craft presented, even if it's a little younger.
Only IB’s from Diageo for me (except Laga 8). Linkwood, Glenlossie, Clynelish, mortlach and Glen Elgin are a few I bought over the last year.Still got bottles of Clynelish 14 and Laga 16 at home that I bought a few years ago. Slàinte Geoff 🥃
Totally agree. All IB for me.
Lagavulin 16 is 96$ in Bulgaria. Cheers to all peat fans
I like lag 12 (2021 ) SR, but unfortunately too pricey .
Provocative indeed !
I don't boycott Diageo, I just boycott whiskies with ABVs lower than 46%, which just incidentally means almost everything from Diageo. Boycotting overpriced bottles as well, and their special releases goes too. I like this system because it does leave a loophole for Clynelish 14 which I might just go for someday soon, as well as independent bottlings 🎉
Totally respect that! 🥃
Heh, yep, no one will get worked up by this.
Hmmm. I`ll pour myself a Caol Ila or a Talisker Wilder Seas for this episode and see where it ends up... or rather a Lagavulin. Just to yell at a UA-camr that ranks Oban higher than the stuff in my cabinet.
HA! 😇