ralfy review 991 Extras - Good labels, bad labels.

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[@KNURKonesur]

About that Caol Ila 25yo - after you auction it off you can quite easily get 2 bottles of an independently bottled 10-12yo Caol Ila, at cask strength, non-chill-filtered, no colouring and you will get a better flavour experience with 99% certainty!

[@KNURKonesur]

I want to take a moment to also appreciate how good the new Arran bottle design is. I've yet to find another bottle design that's as easy to pour small quantities of liquid out of without spilling or leaving that one drop rolling on the outside of the bottle and making the label wet.

[@stingfan24]

Excellent point. Love the new bottles as well.

[@MyScottyboy1]

My missus was specially selected, hand picked and found slumbering. Not sure about undisturbed though. And no age statement was disclosed at the time.

[@grbadalamenti]

😂😂😂No doubt she was a sleeping beauty. But were you a prince or a toad?

[@MyScottyboy1]

@@grbadalamenti A bit of both

[@mistermalt3234]

"Matured in oak casks". My alarm bell rings, if I read this on the label.

[@jfgenie]

Ralfy when you say "many of you watching my videos, you are experienced single malt drinkers", well we can thank YOU for speeding up our learning curve! THANK YOU!

[@thewhiskyenthusiast]

This should be an introductory speech to whoever is starting their whisky journey. Having said that, it's also important to taste the mediocre to appreciate the good. Cheers Ralfy!

[@alyamaut]

Good evening Ralfy, hope you are great, Thanks a lot for another Xtra information, today I meet 2 Gentleman from EEUU, and they shared with me 2 exceptional drams from Springbank 1969 Signatory Vintage and 35yo, We were talking about You, and we agreed how much we learn from You. Top notch, muchas gracias 🤘

[@coreyw4230]

I don't think I've sought out an official Caol Ila in years. In fact, it's rare I'll seek out any Diageo product anymore, as it's often coloured, chill-filtered, and priced beyond what's in the bottle. I wish more distilleries would do what Arran are doing. Deanston and Ledaig and Kilchoman are up there for me as well. Waterford on the Irish side is also up there. But Arran might be the pinnacle of telling you what you need to know on the darned label. Whoever designed their new labels should get a raise.

[@jamescostigan3721]

I'm closing in on 1 year in my Whisky Journey. I'm probably about your age (just a guess), so I'm a bit of a late starter, but thanks to you and a few others, I've been a quick learner. You have taught me well in what to look for in a character whisky. Consequently, you have saved me money and led me to the majority of my favorite bottlings, taught me about the quality over the quantity, to be patient and enjoy the experience, and about the importance of water, which has been a game changer for me who, at the beginning, thought that neat was always the way to go. I know better now. I love your book, too. I'm nearly finished with your first, a very pleasurable read, and have your second book in hand. I suspect I'll pick up your third book in time, as well. Cheers, Malt Mate!

[@Mikego55]

Great info. I read the label more these days. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see a label that read” Heavily chill filtered and caramel added to insure consistency of color and flavor”. Someday those diminished whiskys will be a novel purchase, for old times sake.

[@stingfan24]

You're spot on here, Ralfy. Those distilleries that disclose useful information are showing respect for those of us buying the stuff; those who use many words to disclose nothing at all are showing contempt for us.

[@alexharrington44]

Really enjoying Loch Lomond 12 after letting it open up for several months, along with Inchmurrin 12 I think these are the best value single malts that don’t get deep discounted but have a sensible RRP

[@barrydunham896]

There is absolutely nothing bad to say about Arran. Fantastic whisky

[@tweezerjam]

Hey Ralfy, love your extras as always. Put this on your bourbon list: Old Tub. Its Jim beams original recipe, bottled in bond, non filtered. Its excellent stuff but the value is awesome: about $17 in most stores. 👍🏼

[@Aircraftsystemst]

I have noticed Arran age statement whisky is pretty difficult to obtain. I can only acquire the 10 year old! Additionally Ralfy I have chosen not to purchase a house, so I enjoy my whisky more. I am a single man with no prospective woman to marry!! I want to live my life to the full.

[@nickolaymiltenov]

My friend, let me give you my opinion on the subject - the best whisky tasting is with a woman who shares your life pleasures and principles. Please, never replace and/or substitute women with whisky or the opposite. Enjoy them both simultaneously.😊

[@nicktheflybradley]

Hi Ralfy, an excellent “Extras”. I wholly agree with what you have said. Label examination, if not on the bottle but is on the box has to be visible, true, and understandable. Then comes the decision not to or to buy the bottle. My stash, which will endure for many years with odd additions, is of only bottles you have recommended and I have agreed from studying the labelling. We tend to drink an evening malt through the colder months, playing cards. Nick from York

[@SteelyRam]

Dear Ralfy, I´ve watched your reviews for several years now, and have even made some excellent purchases based on them. The information value of this video is so massive, that I subscribed and gave a thumb up/like. People really should be more interested about what they are paying for. Cheers and Slàinte Mhath!

[@fishsurfer1]

Torabhaig Alt Glean. Bought 4 bottles for 60 USD recently. You can taste the integrity and conscience from our friends in Skye. In a few years they will be putting out amazing 10-12 yr product

[@SteelyRam]

Couldn't agree more!

[@arashefi]

Looking forward to watch review 1000!

[@arnoldandujar4893]

Love that line .. “the best of rests in our budget” very realistic and sincere! 👍🏼 thank you Ralfy for your honesty!

[@mincey808]

One of my favourite distilleries for nonsense is Bushmills. They really play on that whole Giant's Causeway myths and legends thing a bit too much.

[@ian436]

We were at the Whisky Fringe last week. Some fantastic drams, the best was whisky sponge 18 year old Bowmore, but at £352 a bottle too expensive for me. I settled on Balvenie 16 year old French oak, a superb dram , smooth enough to drink neat or with just a wee threat of water.

[@matthewmilan6979]

Even Billy (or was it Fluffy) knows marketing flannel when he hears it.

[@phillister76]

Thanks for a cracking chat, enjoyed immensely x

[@user-no6xe6vs6q]

Royal Mile Whiskies. Superb whisky retailer and they ship international👍

[@sandrofazzolari8833]

Ralfy at his best! Many thanks 🙏 and kindest regards. Ciao 👋 S.

[@markoldeheuvel6574]

A few months ago I wanted to get more into peated whisky, I choose Port Askaig 8years over Caol Ila bcz Port Askaig is a Integrity bottling. I start to like peated whisky now, normally I drink bourbon matured whiskey like Arran 10 - Deanston 12 - Glencadam 10. From what I buy is at least 95 % an integrity bottle. Great video again Ralfy 👍

[@adamcollins6882]

Been a while since you have done a stash update Ralfy. I love those videos and would be interesting to see what else you have in the stash besides the Caol lla!😎

[@nickolaymiltenov]

Comrade Ralfy, the design of your anorak reminds me of Glengarioch whisky label. Sooo....this is one good, warm, comfortable and reliable cloth. 😊 Just opinion of mine 🤗

[@robfut9954]

I find a lot of quarter cask whiskies to get “oaky” faster but not always “older” faster. Especially if it’s French oak, which can cook a whisky and swamp it if the style is too light.

[@stealthy1086]

Things written on the label need to mean something, and we need more facts on it! It’s the hugely popular ones that state fewer facts!

[@douglasgriffin2334]

The worst thing about that 25-year-old Caol Ila, from the point of view of the authenticity of this 'Islay' malt, is that it probably spent about 2 weeks of the 25 years on the island and nearly all of the rest sitting at some warehouse on the mainland.

[@ralfydotcom]

. . . . probably.

[@peterholmlund9454]

I can't be the only one who would love a sneak peak into Ralfy's whisky stash anno 2023 😊. Awsome insight as per usual Sir! Malt mention candidate: Malty Maltese falcons!

[@MyScottyboy1]

Arran do great informative labels and I'm starting to like that style of bottle, too. Shame no age statement, though.

[@Turdmon]

15:28 Thought I was a bit low at 46.2% for a CS and then I watched the full review and it appears to be 56.2%. Time to start learning Braille, ralfy lad! ❤😊

[@davet7185]

As far as labelling goes, Arran has it pretty much spot on. All we need is the pertinent information prominently and proudly declared, i.e. no colour, non-chill filtered, ABV and wherever applicable, age. Flannel such as gently flowing streams, rutting stags and purple headed mountains do not attest to the quality of the bottle contents......alas the marketing folk will have their way in the world. Thank goodness, the vast majority of us Malt Mates can focus on reality and mighty, malty, magnificent knowledge 😁!

[@andrewjudd9001]

Regarding the taxes in Britain… it makes you think how the government is spending it. Even though the US has plenty of other issues, at least some places in the country have taxes within reason.

[@ja5361]

Wonderful review Ralfy, I'll admit I fell prey to the integrity of the Arran Quarter Cask and scrolled right past it at first. As a question, I had a Talisker Skye a few weeks back, I got such a wonderful Lemon flavor from it, is the 10 much better then the Skye in your opinion?

[@gcbrain2933]

And never forget about malternatives and all the nice experiments we the clients can try with it.

[@sav7568]

I do wish that Scots law would force distillers to mark their labels " peated " if peat smoke has been used.

[@grbadalamenti]

This teaches me whisky due diligence❤

[@JR-nl3mh]

It's show time. Thanks master.

[@LaLibertéEclairantLeMonde]

Well said Ralfy. But it is not just whisky. It is another general pathogeny of our modern day cultural void. The marketing language is the exact opposite to scientific language. Closer to propaganda than anything else. As opposed to unaware consumer a scientist needs information like : time, location, properties, measurements, quantities, elements, history, people associated, and that is just to start with.

[@robertrobertp2309]

I have a bottle of this I bought a few years ago and it's 56.2%.

[@martinbeen]

I have 1 Arran now, a portwood, but right now, it is not opened. Wanna try the 10 again, than been a few years.

[@carlubambi5541]

Great as always .I learned feom my Dad and my uncle to try first and dont rely on your first impression .Try ot a gain a couple times with different foods and diffeent places .You might find a huge difference between locatios time of day and what you feel like that day .

[@DileepB]

If the label says 46% or higher ABV, isn't it likely to be non-chill filtered? Why are distilleries reluctant to say NCF on the label, but willing to say it privately?

[@losnoobos7938]

Thank you for tearing down the label fantasyland descriptions of some producers... 🙂

[@ErikVananrooij]

good one ralfy ,,,,, as always

[@RedMage117]

The VAT comments are pretty significant when you have $100 bottles going for $120 because the gubberment wants 'their share'.

[@deante6506]

Hi Ralfy are you planning on reviewing Torabhaig aka Talisker slayer in the future?

[@calummccreath2345]

I don’t really care about any of it. It either tastes good and you would share it with good friends or it tastes like rubbish and you wouldn’t run your car on it. If I’m having a dram with friends I’m not sipping sniffing and looking for all manner of tastes. I’m having a yarn, lots of laughs and having fun.

[@joan_b.]

Hello Ralfy, Have you ever reviewed Torabhaig? Is there a specific podcast of yours to watch? I'd like to know your thoughts about it. Many thanks from France

[@Shane4Bass]

Coincidently, I'm watching this sipping a Craigellachie 13. That's an integrity whisky isn't it?

[@ralfydotcom]

. . . yes.

[@martywong822]

I pour a few bottles in the sink. Two bottles from Bruichladdich distillery were corked. One bottle of Japanese Koshu 5 years old was badly distilled (maybe something other than ethanol), very HOT and offensive. Now I have a Dingle single malt waiting for the sink (also corked).

[@heatherharrison264]

I've had a few bottles of wine ruined by tainted corks, and I've tasted whisky that had the telltale signs. I'm tired of it, and there is no good reason for this to be happening since there are closure technologies that are superior to natural corks. People stick with corks because of tradition, but they are actively harming the product. I'll take a product that isn't tainted over a tradition any day.

[@martywong822]

@@heatherharrison264 100% agree on the use of synthetic cork. As long as the material will not contaminate the spirit inside in another way.

[@danswank3378]

Malt Mention: Malty Mocha Moosetracks.... (Ice cream)

[@ralfydotcom]

. . . now on the M-mention List, thanks !

[@FERREIRAPHOTO]

Hi Ralfy. Do you think the big corporations filter out the chlorine at warehouses and bottling plants like, for example, at Clackmannanshire? Do you also believe the polluted air from industrial areas, (often close to motorways for logistic efficiency) makes its way into the maturing casks, taking up the space once occupied by the spirit that became the Angel's Share? After years and years of maturation under those conditions, I wonder what the results from a chemical lab would be. Cheers.

[@user-pt4oj6sd6j]

Just went to the shops at 11 oclock. They were selling a burbon. 10 year old age statement. It was good. Asked the price, they told me 90 dollars. I told them to get fucked, they laughed and agreed. Ralfy, at that shop, they had a bottle of ardbeg 10 for 85 dollars! 6 months ago it was 55 dollars. I told them I will invest in water.

[@DileepB]

Not too long ago, you could get Uigeadail for $85. Where do you shop?

[@user-pt4oj6sd6j]

New Bedford area. Fall River has some good selection but the prices are higher than balls on a giraffe. I just saw a bottle of Resilient bourbon go from 90 dollars to 114 bucks in two weeks. I bitched about that too but all I got was that fuckin Joe Biden bull shit about "the new ways". Fuck me, chicken is as expensive as steak! Just shoot me.

[@kevinmrn]

About the Caol Ila, I do get where its coming from. But I highly doubt that in a blind tasting you would say that it is chill filtered or 43% (not sure if it was coloured, but didn't have an unrealistic colour for a 25y/o). I bought that bottle for 99euros just 5 years ago, and I did highly rate the quality. Wouldn't buy it again at todays prices, especially where Diageo prices are at! But do wish I grabbed another one of these a couple of years ago...

[@SteelyRam]

But the point is the packaging and label information that we as consumers are buying. No one(sane) buys their whisky blind.

[@kevinmrn]

​@@SteelyRamYes, its basically impossible to buy a bottle blind, but that's not what a blind tasting is.

[@SteelyRam]

@@kevinmrn point wasn't the blind tasting, I agree that ralfy propably coun't taste the difference. Regular people/mass market buy liquer blind every day. Blind meaning they don't care how it's made or who get's the profit.

[@kevinmrn]

@@SteelyRam Yes, and all the Laphroaig 10's that were bottled in the 60's and 70's at 40% ABV, chill filtered and added colour seem to be getting 94+ points on whiskyfun. I care more about quality and taste. That Caol Ila was better then most other bottles that are UCF and Natural Colour. Do I wish it was UCF and Natural colour, sure. But it doesn't guarantee quality either. (I have stopped buying Diageo products because of their bad branding and ludicrous price increases, so not being a fanboy)

[@stevewhan7308]

I appreciate there may be some incentive to heavily filter global brands, in an effort for consistent batch repetition. However I don’t know why the 98% majority of other producers even bother anymore with chill filtration? It must cost the producers extra in production and time to go thru with the chill filtration process!

[@martinbeen]

I like brands that still have nice prices. Like a Glenfarclas 15, i still can find it for 55 Euro, A Clynelish 14, for like 46 Euro. That are 2 whiskies i like. A lot of times i see brands like Springbank get great reviews, but for me, a Springbank for like 195 Euro, that is a no go for me. I can buy like 4 bottles i like for that price.

[@martinbeen]

Springbank 15.

[@vimalrajkappil]

What is the best place to buy wishkies in London

[@ian436]

Berry brothers and Rudd

[@vimalrajkappil]

@@ian436 you will get springbang, and kilkerran there??

[@125ctg]

I forgot to mention, he clearly suffers from The Dunning-Kruger effect.

[@LaLibertéEclairantLeMonde]

Hello Mainly Midlothian Minorities!

[@ralfydotcom]

. . . now on the M-mention List, thanks !

[@brendanholden6914]

Malt Mention: Marvelously Malty Mainline Marauders! (traincrew from Up North) Keep up the good work Sir 👏

[@ralfydotcom]

. . . now on the M-mention List, thanks !

[@mattpetersen4620]

Cask strength 46.2% for a young whisky? That makes no sense.

[@wadew5100]

Label= contract

[@hendrikjanriesebos1293]

So how should governments fund education, public health or infrastructure, not to mention defense or climate change adaptation, if it wasn't for taxes? Surely, anarchy is not a viable alternative. I rather raise my glass than my middle finger to society.. Slainte mhor!

[@ralfydotcom]

. . . from the profits of National banks.

[@neilmattos2756]

😁

[@125ctg]

I can’t believe Ralfy is not running his own mega successful, multi million pound (dollars) whisky company. After all he knows EVERYTHING, from the science, the manufacturing, the managing, the marketing, the graphic design elements, the cash flow, the locations, the distribution and anything else I’ve forgotten to mention. Problem is he’s too making endless pseudo science patronising blathering lecturing self deluding videos. Not only that he’s trying to turn his cat into another ‘Chalky’. Deeply immersed in his own omniscience.

[@ralfydotcom]

😬👍