Well, the first times I had laphroaig then ardbeg I thought to myself "well, that was a waste of money." because I couldn't stand them. And it was mostly just the chemical, meaty taste to them. I loved their noses though.
But now I've started opening up to them some. I'm not necessarily in love with Islay but I find myself wanting them more and more often now that I experience more and more bland malts. What eased me into it was highland park, which is still my absolute favorite. However I find that everything above the 12 year has less and less smoke substance, but instead more sherry.
So I'm at the point where I like both sweet sherry bombs and savory Islay monsters (though less often). I was interested in oogy as I've heard it is like a kind of sweeter less powerful ardbeg.
More and more I am picking up this nasty sulphur hint in sherry bombs so I may end up obsessed with peat some day.
Right now I don't see buying anything again. I already have so many open bottles of liquor at my place that I'm starting to feel like Jim Lahey from Trailer Park Boys. And my interest is to experience as many as possible. Once the local selection runs out of options I'll start thinking about revisits.
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