What a great thread! I'm in agreement with people above about the quality of Lagavulin and Laphroaig, the older the better. Basically, if its full of peat and smoke you have me hooked.
Ones that I like which are slightly less potent (and expensive) than those are Oban and Talisker. I went through the Talisker factory tour once and it was very much worth the trip. Speaking of expensive, I just moved to New Zealand and was shocked to see a rack of lovely bottles of single malt, all of which COST OVER 100$... Oh The Pain! (they were 20-35$ for most moderate brands in the US).
On a completely seperate but related tangent, has anyone here ever had the opportunity to sample Samual Adams Triple Bock Beer? http://www.bottledbeer.co.uk/index.html?beerid=366 it has a 17.5% alc/vol and a whopping strong malty flavor. it comes in a pretty blue bottle and has a cork... not your average beer. It is best sampled after storing it like wine for a few years... I once sampled one at a "Stout, Stogie and Single Malt" affair and have been hooked since. Hard to find but worth the efffort if you like malty flavors
Ones that I like which are slightly less potent (and expensive) than those are Oban and Talisker. I went through the Talisker factory tour once and it was very much worth the trip. Speaking of expensive, I just moved to New Zealand and was shocked to see a rack of lovely bottles of single malt, all of which COST OVER 100$... Oh The Pain! (they were 20-35$ for most moderate brands in the US).
On a completely seperate but related tangent, has anyone here ever had the opportunity to sample Samual Adams Triple Bock Beer? http://www.bottledbeer.co.uk/index.html?beerid=366 it has a 17.5% alc/vol and a whopping strong malty flavor. it comes in a pretty blue bottle and has a cork... not your average beer. It is best sampled after storing it like wine for a few years... I once sampled one at a "Stout, Stogie and Single Malt" affair and have been hooked since. Hard to find but worth the efffort if you like malty flavors