I'm really enjoying Arran 10, a proper change from my usual peated ones.
Now...I've been trying to get Hibiki Harmony for months now, and all I can find is either out of stock, or absurd prices in the £100+ region for something that was 60-80 GBP before.
Any pointers?
I've checked in every online store I know of and can't see it either. Quite often stock levels go low on whisky, worth just waiting a few months. As far as pointers go, I would recommend you stop drinking "Japanese" whisky
.
Edit: It just occured to me that given the recent change in Japanese legislation it may have fallen foul of that? I.e. it's got some Scotch in it, and they can no longer sell it with its current labelling. I may be wrong.
Update
the Glenfarclas 15 was excellent. I am getting a real liking for the single malts that are finished off in Sherry Casks. Even though it comes in at 46% it was still quite nice and didn't give you that nasty burning feeling you get when you drink spirits that are over 40. I would 100% buy this again when I eventually finish it.
The Jura 12 was a bit disapointing. Not quite sure why, but it just seemed a bit flat / light in the taste and nose. However I gave Jura another chance and bought the Jura 18 finished in red wine casks. Now this was a different beast altogether. Much darker finish, with a really nice intense rich taste.
Added another 2 to my collection, both are Sherry Cask finished
Tamnavulin Dobule Cask
Aberlour 12 Double Cask
Haven't tried the new ones yet, however looking at them in the bottles side by side I think the Aberlour is going to have a much more complex sherry finish as it is a lot darker than the Tamnavulin.
Eventually off loaded the nearly full bottle of Laphroaig to my mate as he likes it. Just taking the cork out of the bottle gave me a headache, not sure if I will ever be able to get into tose heavilly peated types from islay.
That's because Jura is a prime example of a distillery with plenty of potential that is completely, and utterly ruined by dreadful ownership*. It tastes flat and thin because it's bottled at 40% and is chill-filtered. Both ominous signs that a whisky is produced for the entry level mass market. I suspect you will find the Tamnavulin similar in body and lack of flavour.
I would suggest not to be afraid of 46% ABV and above, there are very few truly good malts below that. So much so that you can
almost consider 46% ABV and above as a badge of quality.
One prime example of an exception would be Glendronach 12, although with the news last week that they've removed the statement "non-chill filtered" from their bottles, who knows what it'll be like going forward.
*One of a fairly long list that includes Bowmore, Dalmore, and countless Speyside distilleries.