Single Malt Scotch Taste Test

The other day I picked up a large, 1.75 Liter bottle of Lismore Scotch to take on my Thanksgiving Holiday Trip. I wanted something good to drink during cocktail hour with friends and family, but didn’t want to pay $33 for a 750ml bottle of Singleton, that wouldn’t last through the holiday week. Lismore is the perfect compromise. At $29.00 for a 1.75 Liter Bottle it is less than half the price of the Singleton for twice as much. I’ve tasted and reviewed Lismore before and have always thought of it as a great, poor-man’s single malt whiskey. There seems to be some controversy surrounding the distillery/distilleries where Lismore is made and whether or not it is actually even a single-malt scotch. Is it truly even a Speyside? It does seem to have the color and taste. Whatever the answers are to these questions, I will take a bottle of Lismore over a blended Johnny Walker Black, Chivas or Dewars, any day. At any rate, several days prior to purchasing the Lismore, I was enjoying a very good bottle of Singleton, 12-Year every night. The Singleton 12 Year exceeded my expectations for $33.00. It has a very fruity nose with a front that I describe as Cherry Life Saver. The taste rounds out very nicely and continues to offer sweet honey, caramel and cherry well into the last lingering bit of aftertaste. How would Lismore compare, I wondered? I opened up the bottle and poured. The nose and first sip of Lismore seemed very promising. Just a bit of vanilla and fruit, but a little drier and flatter than the Singleton, I thought. The disappointment comes soon after that first sip. The Lismore doesn’t round out or linger at all. It cuts off rather abruptly and leaves a bit of firmness in the middle of the tongue with no lasting remnants of the fruitiness I noticed at first sip. I would describe it as rather flat, leaving you with just enough of a pleasant memory to try again. Sadly, though, it never lives up to the promising nose and first sip, which almost fooled me into thinking it would be every bit as good as the Singleton. Am I disappointed that I bought it? Absolutely not. Lismore is still the most affordable value in whiskey that my taste buds have ever met.

I will update my Scotch Ratings in the coming days to reflect the Lismore vs. Singleton Taste Test. Please check back soon, check back often. Happy Sipping.