Booze reviews are a strange art. Well done, they can give the reader a fine impression of the liquid at hand. More often, the sound like pretentious nonsense. I usually avoid doing them, be it for wine or whiskey. When I give my opinion, I stick to what is clear. Be it tannin or acidity or peat or smoke or dryness. If I can sense some basic aromas I say so. But I limit myself to that because most aromas sensed in a tasting are quite personal. Two top sommeliers may not sense the same thing in the same glass. An Asian may feel other aromas than a European. So while it may be fun to see what others sense, when you go beyond a few things it is getting somewhat ridiculous and you are mostly making shit up. Especially due to fads that affect the tasters. There was a time in which almost every wine blogger in Romania had to smell lychee in white wines, while I had no idea what lychee smelled like.
I usually simply avoid giving my personal interpretation of faint aromas in alcohols. But for you, fair readers, I will do a proper review and I will stick my nose in the glass and taste the thing until, damn it, I find at least five different flavors.
Today I will be reviewing a few basic expressions of Islay malts. Islay is an island in Scotland which I will not describe at length. It has the usual Scottish things, bad weather, sheep, funny accents, the standard package. Where it is unique is in the number of distilleries and the quantity of malt produced on less than 250 square miles. And it is a special malt indeed, so much that it is considered a distinct, officially recognized region, one of five such regions in Scotland.
The whisky is known for peat smoke – the malted barley is dried using peat fires – and its salty briny taste due to being so close to the sea. Unfortunately, peaty whisky has grown in popularity in the last 10-15 years, as such the prices have increased while the quality not always. I blame market forces myself and probably hipsters. Also the Germans.
While for some it does not matter, I am going to be a snob about it and, besides aromas, positively view whiskeys that are non-chill filtered and natural colored. Because they are just better. I don’t see the point of putting caramel coloring in whiskey just because people associate that color with the drink. And while chill filtration removes cloudiness, cloudiness can be fun, start with a cask strength malt that is clear and get cloudy as you add some water. Also, it may or may not remove flavor.
I mentioned water because I generally favor higher ABV malts, and I like to drink a little and then add a bit of water for a small change in flavor and booziness. I generally drink my whiskey in a Glencairn glass and do not add ice or anything else. If you are the type to add mixers to whiskey, you disgust me and should be ashamed of yourself you goddamn lowlife.
Now to get to it, in no particular order. I will judge smell, taste, aftertaste and will include a from the internet section from more tastery tasters than my very own self.
Ardbeg 10
Bottled at 46%. aged 10 years in mostly bourbon casks, natural color unchill filtered
Nose: Peat some smoke – not that overwhelming – something herbal, something of the sea maybe brine maybe some seaweed. Maybe apple.
Taste: intense, something spice, some vanilla, peat, maybe apple or pear, some sweetness, something savory
Aftertaste: long with slight and pleasant bitterness, peat smoke and spice linger.
From the net : apple pear melon citrus bacon smoked mackerel almonds dark chocolate campfire cigar “bonfire on the beach in autumn” tobacco coffee ginger thyme and rosemary, gentian, juniper, kumquats, clams and sea spray and much much more.
Verdict: for me this edges Lagavulin by a hair, slightly rougher and less complex but bolder in the flavors it has.
Laphroaig 10
40% I really prefer more
Nose: lots of smoke iodine leather seawater charcoal peat citrus
Taste: salty and peaty and iodine and something medicinal, a little sweetness, a little salty, a touch of spice and a savory note
Aftertaste: dry with iodine and a savory note, fairly long. again something slightly bitter
the iodine is what differentiates it
From the internet: Match sticks, sulfur, hay, and smoked salt blend together with the ripe sugar elements that define the spirit. mint pine needles camphor ginger vanilla tea sultana
Verdict: while I like it and will keep buying it for the price, it is bellow Ardbeg and Lagavulin for me. Could use higher ABV
Lagavulin 16
43%, with coloring and chill filtration
Nose: as always peat and some smoke more subtle then Ardbeg or Laphroaig. Actually sort of smells like black tea. Complex. Some leather and tobacco. Something else nice I just can’t place. Damp wood is there.
Taste: Peat and oak some vanilla. smooth an complex with all flavors well integrated, less dominated by one or other. some sweetness salt and pepper. Unlike some that get sharper in the mouth this mellows towards the finish,
Aftertaste: Long some peat some dried fruit or other
From the internet: Orange pineapple brine Lapsang Souchong tea and pipe tobacco, fish boxes and kippers, laurel and light cereal, creosote, with hints of kelp and a little touch of iodine, Dried fruit, caramel, vanilla, bbq, sherried biscuits, savory, roasted almonds, baked apples,
Verdict: probably the most refined of the bunch, but pricier and lower ABV than ideal. I like it, but the Ardbeg slightly edges it.
Kilchoman Sanaig
Bottled at 46% unchill filtered natural color, partly Oloroso partly bourbon cask 3-5 years old
Kilchoman is different from the rest and I am not sure it even has a standard expression. I chose Sanaig after carefully analyzing the different bottlings that exist and deciding to pick this particular one as it was the only one they had at the store. The distillery is as close as you get to boutique, it only began production in June 2005, and was the first to be built on the island of Islay in 124 years and it does the hipster things like using very traditional methods.
Color: natural
Nose: Little peat, a bit of smoke, dried fruit and vanilla.
Palate: Peat smoke and citrus with slightly spicy slightly sweet. Slight roughness to it but I like that
Finish: peat smoke and you can feel the sherry cask
From the internet: Pineapple chunks and white grapes. Hints of fresh coffee carry the earthy, subtly spicy peat. Toffee cubes. More light fruits (this time of the peach variety), with dark chocolate raisins and a whisper of red berries. Peat grows and grows, with a little black pepper too. juicy fresh rubber, fire charcoal, burnt branches juicy fresh rubber, fire charcoal, burnt branches
Verdict: This is, as the more astute glib would guess, rather pricey, especially given the young age. I am not sure whether I should recommend this or not. It is good malt but rather pricey for such a young thing. Basically, it is if you are willing to pay some extra for the small new distillery on the block. But I do not feel cheated while drinking it.
Caol Ila 12 bottled at 43%
Color: quite light and pleasant, but not natural. Chill filtration was involved.
Nose: herbal, grass, peaty, maybe a tad medicinal
Taste: some smoke, some peat, vaguely salty, slightly acidic, alcohol has a slight roughness to it.
Aftertaste: medium slightly spicy, faint peat, some vanilla
From the internet: Vanilla pair brine tar toffee smoke ash Rubbed peppermint leaves, damp grass, smoky. Oily, cigar leaves, smoked ham, hickory. Lemon peels at the harbor.Beautiful gentle salt spray on the coast, a smoldering fire. Beautiful honey sweetness, finest lemon sweet notes, a beautiful glow like a still burning out campfire, but without ashes, brown sugar, some thyme, of course, light salt, a little bit of white grapes,
Bowmore 10 dark intense
Bottled at 40%, chill filtered and a bunch of coloring added
Color – dark, too dark for a 10-year-old. Dark and intense… dark due to all the coloring pour in, intense in the most meh of ways.
Nose – starts faint but picks up fast, but for me not exactly pleasant. Some smoke but slightly disagreeable, some dry fruit
Taste – caramel, faint peat, some sweetness
Aftertaste – not overly complex
From the internet: I can’t be arsed
Verdict: Overall unimpressive for the price. I mean from this list this is the only one I would not recommend at all. it is OK and you can drink it, but at the price point, you can do a lot better. This is the kind I drink as the last drink of the night, when I want a bit of scotch, but I find drinking the good stuff is wasteful as I do not enjoy it fully.
Islay Mist Delux
This is basically a cheap blend of undetermined Islay malts of undetermined age, somewhat peaty Scotch with an overall good flavor.
Nose: Vague smoke, herbal peat very discreet, barely there, some brine, something sweet
Taste: Peat is there and some sweetness, but not overwhelming, smooth enough though there is a slight alcohol burn, vanilla maybe? neah.
Aftertaste Surprisingly there is some there but no peat in it so kinda meh
Verdict: if you want something drinkable with some peat and for a hair under 20$ Americanese Moneys it is not bad…
Ranking:
Ardbeg
Lagavulin
Kilchoman
Laphroaig
Caol Ila
Islay Mist Delux
…
Bowmore 10 dark intense
Comments
322 responses to “A Bit of Peat: Some Basic Islay Malts”
Damn! You writer better than a 20 dollar who’re
Seriously good stuff pie!
thanks
Indeed. As anyone who recalls my short-lived cocktails series knows, I suck at describing flavors.
On your rankings, I would put the Lagavulin at the top, followed by the Caol Ila and then the Ardberg (I think, its been awhile since I had the Ardberg). The Laphroaig 10 is kinda raw for me; their 16 is much better, IMO, but their Quarter Cask is very good and a good value.
i found the caol ila nice but not that interesting
This is why I stopped trying.
This is why I buy the $13 half gallon of Northern Lights Canadien whiskey and mix it with a diet coke…
Thirsty Thursday? Check. Article about scotch? Check.
Scotch actually in my hand? No fucking check.
its after 6 pm you can have one
It’s noon.
And I’m at work.
So?
On the short list of ways a State Worker can be fired, drinking on the job is one of them.
Being caught drinking on the job is how you get fired.
Easiest way to not get caught is to not do it in the first place.
But the funnest way to not get caught is to stick a vodka-soaked tampon in your ass!
Easiest way to not get caught is to not do it in the first place.
Sissy
You’ll have to have one for me.
Work for another 6 hours and then UV tattoo work tonight, so no boozing until after.
UV tattoo work? Tattooing Catamounts on people? or are you sunburning them so badly it tattoos?
I would have guessed tattoos that only show up under UV light for the various secret societies.
Winner winner, chicken dinner.
Huh, cool. I assume we’re talking “black light’s”? I mean, do they show up in bright sunlight?
Depends, MikeS! You can get ink that is UV reactive and also shows up regularly, like this.
But you can also get UV reactive that doesn’t show up at all (or much, depending on scarring) without a blacklight, like this.
Ha! That Cheshire Cat is pretty cool.
So what are you having done? Secret Glib symbol? A money pile in regular ink and a porcupine humping it in UV ink?
Somebody buy Riven a drink!
Yes, please! Mr. Riven and I are both quite partial at this point to the Lagavulin 16.
What are the rules on shipping hard liquor these days?
I think the only real rule the government has is, “Don’t.”
I’ve never done anything against the rules before! And I certainly haven’t ever participated in BiF!
Speaking of… I should start getting ready to start prepping the Spring BIF…
I’m hoping to get in on that. I know I can be kind of scarce, though, so don’t be afraid to email me x_x
Something is amiss.
Indeed!
Gah. My hands are full of taxes instead. This is some bullshit!
So that’s where all the fraud and waste that’s going to get cut from the budget is!
Drat! I’ve been found out!
Unrelated, who is coming to my shred party later? Gonna be a real good time…
Shred? Try bonfire.
Shredding first increases the surface area.
Shred, then bonfire. Got it!
Wow. Look at the vanity here.
Booze reviews are merely entertainment – the reviewer has different tastebuds and won’t react to the substance the same way as I will.
Reviewer has different tastebuds and won’t react to the substance the same way as I will
God we hope not, for his sake.
You’re the ones who are missing out.
They can be helpful in pointing out flavors and aromas that are ones you prefer (or don’t). If I said a random beer was a blast of tropical fruit, citrus, grassy notes, and pine, with a lingering bitter finish, you would know to avoid it. If I mentioned soft fruit flavors, a touch of tartness, you may like it. I know there are two words written on any beer label (or in any review) that will help me walk right on past that beer: coconut and oyster.
Except, I never taste any of those things, they’re usually either drowned out by the taste of rot, or the taste of hops. Though it is usually wine that tastes of rot rather than beer.
The one described in the first one is all hop flavor notes. Some of the newer hop strains include white wine notes, melon (that one is strange), lemon, and all sorts of crazy flavors. For some examples, you can look here. Now, if the bitterness is too much for you, you probably won’t get the flavors, but the aromas should still be there (depending on when the hops were added to the beer in the brewing process).
It doesn’t really taste bitter, more like an inedible plant got stuffed in my mouth. Fibrous without the texture. But I don’t think I’m describing it well.
wine that tastes of rot
Perhaps you should avoid Boones Farm.
Or stop trying to drink corked wine.
It’s every wine from any source. The problem goes away with light cooking, so it isn’t there in wine-based sauces.
Honestly that sounds psychological rather than a physical taste sensation. Not that that really matters, if you don’t like it you don’t like it.
My hypothesis is it’s more like the people who taste cilanto as soap, and it’s something that doesn’t taste that way to other people and boils off easily.
Barkeep! Can I get a half a finger of vodka with a single ice cube made from distilled water? ///UCS
Barkeep? Ice? Bah. Vodka is poured neat from a bottle taken out of the freezer.
I see. We can’t make a “UCS walks into a bar” joke.
If I had friends, I’d be the designated driver.
I’m …the …. desig…nated driver.
What has worked for me is following a particular critic and comparing their reviews to my own. After a while, you can get a pretty good idea by reading their reviews. In my wine geek days, I even followed different critics for different types of wine. It served me well.
I just rely on OMWC.
*cheese eating grin*
She has a subtle aroma of capri sun and lanolin. Her mouth feel is giggly cause “your scritchy beard is tickly”. Her body… Yeah no, no going there even for the joke.
I’m impressed you got as far as you did. ‘Mouth feel’ was both hilarious and a bridge too far.
I don’t care for that term in it’s normal context. Texture and consistancy should be defined separately, not lumped together.
So, Bordeaux Blanc?
We thank you for your great sacrifice in sampling these for us.
I’ve tried three of these. Not bad, but I always go back to older Glenfiddich. 18 if I can, butv15 and even 12 is OK too.
Only two for me, and my standby is the Glenlivet.
What’s the deal with figure skaters being so gangster?
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/us-figure-skater-accused-of-purposely-cutting-south-korean-opponent-during-warm-up-at-world-championships
All that spinning enlarges the amygdala.
All that being told you are a princess enlarges the entitlement seems more likely
My personal favorite of the Islay malts is the one that isn’t peated – Bruichladdich, although my girlfriend still says it tastes smokey. Personally, I tend to find it more “kelpy”.
Octomore?
Octomore is the peated whisky. Very heavily peated. The most heavily peated single malt in the world. The Classic Laddie isn’t peated at all.
The Ardbeg 10 hits a sweet spot with me for the taste, proof, and price point. It’s been a staple on my booze cart since you first recommended it.
I… I like the Caol Ila.
You didn’t even give it a verdict…
Guilty!
Satisfied?
seems I missed that one
GET BACK IN THERE AND VERDICTIZE IT!
I was at a very private, very exclusive whiskey tasting last week. The best three that I remember (from 1st to 3rd) were:
Ardbeg Kelpie
Laphroaig Lore
Bowmore Dorus Mor
Octomore was the one I had forgotten the name of.
Over/under on this person placing the noose herself?
https://www.nj.com/morris/2019/03/african-american-woman-says-verizon-coworkers-left-noose-made-of-wires-over-her-desk.html
My base presumption is that of a hoax until proven otherwise.
75% chance she did it.
” It also claims the company violated the Americans with Disability Act for not giving her special accommodations when she returned from her medical leave related to the alleged stalking.”
I don’t trust anyone who invokes the ADA.
*Clicks link**sees picture*
That’s not a noose. This woman is just looking for an excuse.
Came here to say that. Network guys at the office tie wires like that as a standard.
Once again proving journalists and editors are more interested in shock and clickbait and don’t give a flying fuck about information.
Damn it, you made me go look at the picture. Fuck, that’s a standard cable hanging out of the ceiling. I’m willing to bet it wasn’t “hung over a support beam”, but instead was from under the drop ceiling.
I’d say 85% chance she did it. 13% chance one of her coworkers did to mock her after getting tired of her crap, and 2% it happened exactly like she claimed.
Look at the picture. The “Noose is just a pair of network cables that got tied together at the end and fell down from the cable runs. The ‘loop’ is formed because one cable was slightly longer than the other. There is literally no noose, and the imagery is all in her head.
Would like to see the other end, but no that isn’t. A) it would be jacketed b) it wouldn’t be wrapped like that on a cable rack.
It appears to be DSX cross connect cable (jumper wire). That stuff doesn’t go on cable racks.
Whatever kind of wire it is, there is nothing about how that is tied or hanging that says ‘noose’. The only place the two are connected is at the ends, which is at the very bottom of the dangling span of cable.
two possibilities:
1. she’s having delusions of persecution and some acquaintance was tired of listening to her bullshit and finally said, “GET A FUCKING LAWYER ALREADY”. and the lawyer doesn’t give a fuck b/c it’s a paycheck and hell Verizon may even settle.
2. she’s looking for a cash payout to jump start her retirement b/c she hasn’t saved up shit over her 30-year career.
what can i say. i’m one of those glass-half-full-of-horseshit types.
Why do we even talk about this crap? Who gives a damn if it was a noose? How is this a matter for reporting even if it were exactly what this lunatic is claiming? Oppression is people making you unfree, beating you, raping you, killing you. People teasing you, even if it is tasteless or mean spirited, is life, grow the fuck up.
It furthers the narrative that this is all happening because of Trump and the rise of white nationalism.
I feel so bad for her supervisor.
All her peers are probably tired of her whinging and coming up with various reasons why she should never have to do her job and they should take up the slack and are treating her just like any other shit employee (aka: not very nicely).
But you are the boss. You know that she is a time bomb waiting to go off. If you don’t treat her every complaint like it is totes legit, it is going to be your ass that VZW throws to the lawyers. “OK, we had no idea. How bout some cash and we fire the boss?”
I am impressed by the level of self control it took to walk her to her car without slapping her and telling her to toughen up.
I saw a followup to that politico that claimed her car was racistly vandalized — by pollen. She said” It was real for me.”
Maybe they should transfer her to the department that handles the slave databases.
If you are the type to add mixers to whiskey, you disgust me and should be ashamed of yourself you goddamn lowlife.
I’m certainly not drinking JB straight.
There are many, many fine whiskey cocktails.
Cocktails should be made with cheaper booze, though (in fact, they were invented to make cheaper booze more palatable). Top shelf booze, like single malt Scotch, is wasted in cocktails.
I pretty much put my cut off for dark liquors at $30/bottle. Under that, if you want to mix it with something appropriate, it’ll work. Over that, you’d better have a good reason for wanting to experiment with my good liquor.
Gin is a different animal.
Gin is botanical puke. My sisters love it, I can’t stand it.
Gin I can describe the flavor of.
It tastes like twigs.
Some are pine-heavy, others are grapefruit-heavy, and some are anise-heavy (I dislike those). Gin and Tonics are a dangerous drink for me in the late spring/early summer. They go down like water.
Oh, thanks for reminding me. I have half a bottle of … *draws a blank on the spelling* an anise booze from mexico that I haven’t finished. It’s better in small doses.
Oh, it was Xolotl, apparently they named the brand for the Aztec god of death.
Wait until you try retsina.
I like gin but sometimes gin doesn’t like me.
There was a period of years where I couldn’t drink gin. Even the smell of it was enough to make me naseous. I’m guessing we can all figure out why that was.
-1 rum
Yeah, I had a similar problem with spiced rum for a bit. Thank god it wasn’t too many dark and stormies. The thought of puking ginger beer out of my nose just sounds awful.
Scotch was like that for me for about 20 years. I just recently started appreciating it with the urging of some of the whisky drinkers here.
Good gin can be quite good. Bad gin is horrendous.
i bought a bottle of the botanist just cause it was from islay. not that bad really
I keep considering picking up a local distilleries Bourbon Barrel Gin, but the concept keeps making by brain twitch.
I have two concepts to attempt some day that both cause me the same problem. I guess I could combine them into one:
A heavily hopped (dry hopped after aging), bourbon-barrel aged gueuze.
Does Jolly Pumpkin make its way down to your neck of the woods? They do a couple of hopped sours that I really enjoy (I wish they weren’t so damned expensive though).
Yeah, I have had a few.
My favorite bit is bars having to post “this is not a pumpkin beer”.
They really have a bad name.
They really do. I avoided their beers for the first year or two for the same reason.
If you are the type to add mixers to whiskey, you disgust me and should be ashamed of yourself you goddamn lowlife.
But, you admit to adding water. So, is seltzer okay?
*dumps 18 year old single malt into a Diet Coke*
Sure thing, brah!
I think there’s a bit of a difference. Seltzer doesn’t add a flavor that spoils the whiskey. Diet Coke pretty much covers up the taste of anything you put it in. And for some alcohols, that’s a virtue.
As I noted above. A $13 half gallon of cheap canadien whiskey and diet coke or vernors hits the spot when I don’t feel like sipping something worthwhile.
Separate glasses. Glass of soda water with ice, glass of single malt, alternate sips. Keeps you hydrated and soothes the stomach without killing the flavor.
I don’t care for scotch (tastes like good bourbon strained through an ashtray) but straight canadien whiskey isn’t fit for cleaning paint-brushes.
They need covering up by something. Like a pillow.
Cinnamon tea mixed half and half with Crown Royal Regal Apple is my favorite sleeping potion.
as long as it is a teaspoon or less
Imma go with none or less.
Meh… I’m drinking High West Double Rye mixed with black cherry juice, peach juice, Luxardo Maraschino Originale, and ginger ale. It is a VERY assertive rye that mixes very well.
I don’t see a review of Arkay Non-Alcoholic Scotch Whiskey
what? how? why? huh? I… what?
People are stupid. We do a lot of really stupid stuff, sometimes we get lucky and it works out well. This is known as genius. Most of the time it’s just stupid. I mean think about it, beer and wine are rotted foodstuffs, someone had to not only decide “Hey I’m gonna drink that runny smelly stuff from the cask of grain that got wet, but continue on and decide “hey, that was nasty as hell and made me sick, but maybe if I (insert article on home brewing) it will be good.” Somebody else took that nasty stuff and boiled it and captured the evaporated part, and went, “Hmm, if I actually sprout half the grain first this might be tasty”
Nobody needs five different flavors.
Nobody needs ONLY five different flavors.
Ardbeg 10 is a decent dram of scotch. I agree that the Lagavulin 16 needs a little more oomph but otherwise, very nice. Laphroaig almost always makes me happy but I do like a higher ABV. The Triple Wood and the Quarter Cask are favorites. I’ve not had the Bowmore 10, but the 15 and 17 are quite nice. The perfume on the 17 always reminded me of what I thought a French whore must smell like.
A new Single Malt that I really like is the Lagavulin 8. Not the smoothest Lagavuli but the same profile and 96 proof. Ardbeg Corryvrecken and Uighedahl are also personal favorites.
Ardbeg Corryvrecken is what is in the not glencairn glass in the feature immage
Ardbeg Perpetuum is my all time favorite
I really like cask strength Laphroaig, but I might give some of the others a go.
The most pretentious review I read was for wine—wait, it wasn’t even a review, it was the makers description on the label.
It described various flavors and notes, then said the wine was “ unctuous and brooding”.
Who da fuq is that trying to appeal to??
Goths?
Cat ladies.
How you doin’, kid?
Hey, Tundra. I’m doin’ ok, you?
I’m on day 3 stuck in my hotel room in Tooele Utah getting over an illness. Much better today but still didn’t go to job site because it’s 1.5 hours from running water and medical help.
I keep telling myself it’s like an extended spa day, without the pampering. Or the luxury. Or the spa.
Who am I kidding? It’s minimum security prison, and probably not even as nice as the one Martha Stewart did time in.
By tomorrow night I’ll be home.
Sorry to hear you are under the weather. Maybe some actual spa time when you get back to civilization, huh?
It finally got nice here! One of those cool but really sunny days that make this place bearable.
You know that guy that has a tiny frying pan to fry a quail egg? That guy.
I don’t know that guy but he sounds like a tool.
That is directed at people that follow the reviews of one Robert Parker, who single handedly destroyed subtlety in wine.
I understand the damage that Mr Parker had on the wine world. But I could read his reviews and pretty well gauge whether or not I would like a given wine.
I imagine that indicates my own limited abilities.
Ditto.
I cant find it right now, but one my favorite studies is the aggregation of blind tastings and the inverse relationship between price and quality ratings for those who were untrained in tasting wine.
For those who had even minimal training, there is a positive but insignificant relationship between price and quality ratings.
So what you’re saying is, people are being trained to ignore their tastebuds?
That is probably the best way to look at it.
Or, they are being trained to detect flavors they would otherwise not notice.
Yeah, I am going with what you said.
people are being trained to ignore their tastebuds
I’ve paid to sit through a dozen or so different wine tasting classes. I wouldn’t say it changed what I like to drink. I just 1) exposed me to lots of different styles of wine and 2) taught me to recognize what I like and what I didn’t like so that I can read wine reviews and correlate what I read to what I like and don’t like.
As far as price, good wines cost more to make that bad wines. But after a certain price point you are paying for some combination of marketing (demand) and availability (supply).
A couple of my favorite wines wound up on some top 100 list, and the price shot up and never came down. So sad.
OMWC and I actually know Bob and had dinner with him a couple of times back in the ‘90s. Let’s just say we fell out of favor by refusing to be syncophants.
He doesn’t do most of his reviews anymore but in the day, I could tell you exactly what a wine tasted like by his review.
I could tell you exactly what a wine tasted like by his review.
Which is what a review should do.
His reviews were valuable. His palate altered the industry in not-so-great ways.
So what changed in the industry?
Winemakers changed the way they make wines to get high scores from Parker. If you happen to like the wines that Parker likes, that’s probably a good thing. If not, tough shit.
Hmmm…he doesn’t happen to also like and write about IPA’s, does he?
You need to understand the way Bob tasted wine. On Tuesday mornings, his staff would line up 50 wines in a double blind tasting. He would spend 30 seconds per wine. So the wines that stood out the most were the big, fruit and wood forward wines with higher alcohol. It wasn’t the only cause but it played a big part in the industry gravitating towards that style.
the industry would go that way anyway. I been to tastings in Romania with people who never heard of Parker and they all like extractive fruit forward no subtlety wines.
Myself I like a bit of leather in my wine but many do not
I have judged beer competitions. Subtlety might work in round 1. But for best overall, you have to be big and bold.
For one thing, the judges have had to much by the end of the day for anything else to stand out.
The wines/beers that make the biggest impression are the wines/beers that make the biggest impression.
So the heaviest ones?
I like a bit of leather in my wine
Drank from a woman’s shoe?
Hitler?
This is tremendous, Pie! You are really good at describing the flavors.
I started out as a Macallan 12 fan, but I really came to appreciate the Laphroig and Highland Park families.
Great article.
Hear! Hear!
/looks up from an Old Fashioned
I’m sorry what was that?
And no one is going to point out that this was written about whiskys, not whiskeys?
i was actually thinking coke or red bull when i wrote that…
lunch cocktail?
Nah, it’s a conceptual Old Fashioned. Drinking commences tomorrow after work. Today is the finding the root cause of the outage yesterday. The joy of tracking down why something stopped working when only half of the systems are supported by your company, and the one that started failing isn’t.
Maybe someone snipped the “noose” down?
*Giant grin
After the week I have had so far I am at home having beer number 2. Scotch will commence later. Tomorrow may simply not happen, at least from a work point of view.
Actually now I feel guilty. My week has sucked because other people that I care about have had really bad things happen. Including a much loved coworker whose breast cancer appears to have returned and metastasized; which she learned Monday, the 5 year anniversary of her initial diagnosis.
Sorry, since we were doing single malts, I kind of narrowed in on that. Mix whatever you want with bourbon.
Shut your mouth.
Nothing more expensive than Makers should be mixed. Except in a high end manhattan.
Maybe this is the problem. I don’t buy anything even as cheap as Makers, so I don’t mix anything with my whiskey. But apparently there are a bunch of people on this board prancing around with their peepees tucked between their legs drinking cocktails from martini glasses with a cherry at the bottom, and I don’t want to make those people feel bad.
I don’t even consider Beam to be bourbon, It is a bottle of mixer.
Beam and Jack D are basically good for cooking. That’s about it.
An old fashioned in a cocktail glass? What the hell? And there’s no fruit in a traditional old fashioned. Sugar, bitters, bourbon (or rye). If you want to get fancy, a splash of soda water.
Some people put cherries in fucking manhattans. I was just trying to kick Robc in the crotch basically.
Also, I’ve never seen this recipe of which you speak. It’s always muddled orange and cherry as far as I’ve encountered. What you’re describing sounds closer to a manhattan (sans Sugar, add sweet vermouth).
I only have Manhattans when one of my friend’s makes them, he is an expert at them.
And I prefer it when he uses rye.
That keeps the bourbon pure.
I’m just being a dink anyway. I like both manhattans and old fashioneds. It’s just not as much fun to agree.
bleah sweet vermouth
I’m aware of the current trend to make an old fashioned look like a gods damned fruit salad. The original recipe as written down was a cube of sugar, drops of bitters to wet it, muddle with a splash of water (or liquor), top with liquor. Optional was a splash of soda water.
There was an old website (15 years ago or so) that I’ve lost to the mists of time that did nothing but do write-ups on old, classic cocktails. Some of the recipes were insane, and I only remember a couple of them at this point (the Satan’s Whiskers is a personal favorite, do not make order this out unless you know the staff well, and tip well). Some have come back and started being made again (the Aviation).
decent channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLk67oMq8Og
Rye is the proper spirit for a Manhattan. I am annoyed that I even need to specify that to bartenders.
And you may have my Luxardos when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.
I got one at arguably the fanciest restaurant in my area, and it was a disappointment. The first one was good, the second one was like an orange slushy. What the fuck.
What you’re describing sounds delicious.
Also, I miss the old Glibs cocktail and recipe posts.
There was an old website (15 years ago or so) that I’ve lost to the mists of time that did nothing but do write-ups on old, classic cocktails
You could do worse than Mr. Boston.
The book has been around in one form or another since 1935.
The website was the Alchemist, and IIRC, it was on a Yahoo page. I had it archived several years back, but lost it in a hard drive failure. Every article was the cocktail, the recipe, the history, and an idea to throw a party based around the drink.
Not normally a fan of adding anything but a splash of water to my bourbon, but recently went to Vegas.
While there, ate at Virgil’s BBQ and ordered an Templeton Rye Old Fashioned they featured on their menu.
Hipster-douchy, it was served in a dirty flask, with a glass with one big clear ice-cube and muddled ‘dirty cherry’ and orange rind. the flask held about two drinks worth.
Pretty fuckin’ good, but $15 was a little steep.
But apparently there are a bunch of people on this board prancing around with their peepees tucked between their legs drinking cocktails from martini glasses with a cherry at the bottom,
*considers reviving the Cocktail of the Week feature at Glibs*
Is it weird if we sing Wild Horses while doing it?
Somebody is getting the hose.
The song is Goodbye Horses
The song is Goodbye Horses
Dammit Bobarian, I’m a jester not a DJ.
Please do! I miss those articles.
Also, someone once posted a recipe for a quick and dirty hollandaise sauce that I can’t for the life of me remember.
Why do people get all bent out of shape about the specific anglicization used for various usquebaugh?
Because people are dicks?
On Topic: My least favorite thing about moving to NC? Lagavulin is $100 / 750 mL vs the downright cheap $70 / 750mL I got used to in Maine.
got mine for 55 but discounted from like 80
I regularly put good whiskeys in Manhattans. Fight me
I use Knob Creek small batch rye. I have been known to use Pikesville when I’m out of the KC.
You can still taste the rainbow, but its not a chore to choke it down.
bleah sweet vermouth
Looks like game 1 is gonna knock me out of my “longest lasting” bracket.
And everyone who was jumping on Yale will be as disappointed as hiring one of their graduates.
Any Ivy league school is a counterindicator, and I’m going to need a sign of independant competence before risking hiring someone from one of them.
Yeah, I went with Yale because LSU is in disarray and to try to win the contest quickly, but then so many pundits were picking Yale and the obvious upset never wins.
I picked them as well, but had them losing to Belmont so I guess I’m not totally boned.
Both Louisville and Yale are closing the score, but may be too late, at least for Louisville.
The Rodentia held on and won.
Ski-U-Mah, bitches!
I’m happier that Louisville (nemesis of Memphis State) lost than the Rodents winning.
Did you throw the coin that hit Denny Crum in the head?
/old school UofL-MSU reference
Also, I was at the 1985 final four. Keith Lee’s 5th foul was idiotic. A good call, but a real dumb play.
I actually picked the Rodents to lose in my work bracket.
Except for Michigan, I hope the Big Ten does well.
/IL Taxpayer
I started at Memphis State in ’90, so I wasn’t around in those days. I did hear all sorts of stories about those teams (and Keith Lee in particular) from the natives.
And how can you not like a team that has a player named Baskerville Holmes?
Uffda. I hadn’t heard about Baskerville shooting his girlfriend and then committing suicide.
I guess maybe you could make a solid case why you shouldn’t root for a team with Baskerville on it.
Has anyone heard from Doom?
Several of us have tried several platforms to reach him, but no luck so far.
That’s concerning. The last I saw he was having trouble with the apartment he rented or something…?
He’s a resourceful kid. I fully expect him too show up soon with a good tale to tell.
Insh’allah.
That’s actually the second story of shitty Hill Country landlords I’ve heard. The first one was when a friend of mine got yelled at by her TERF landladies because they thought she was trans (she isn’t, just really, REALLY butch.)
Octomore, Ardbeg Uigeadail and Caol Ila Feis Ile are my favs.
Tits.
https://thechive.com/2019/03/21/sports-bra/
did you drink any of those or just though you should mention some whiskey before tits?
Isn’t it usually “whisky before tits”? I mean, if we are going to look at it chronologically.
Depends on the tits. ‘Friends’ took me to ‘”””” Gentleman’s”””” (needed more than one airquote) club in Columbus years ago and I spent the rest of the night drinking to forget. The one memory that stands out was the girl with the spiderweb prison tattooed on her tit who kept trying to get me to touch her C section scar.
SF material, right there
Oh it was. It was an angry purple ten inches of braided tissue rope. What had been pulled from that belly was surely cursèd by the Gods, and the Mother of that evil would never know surcease as the wound festered in celebration of those from outside having finally burst forth in our realm of light.
Poetry right there, you may want to copyright that before SF steals it.
First, nobody here believes you’ve got 10″
Winston’s Mom said I was special!
Winston’s Mom said I was special!
The hell I did.
Oh don’t be like that baby, you know you loved it.
I did love it when you cried afterwards.
Hey that bottle hurt!
What ever happened to that company that was selling whiskey that had been poured over a model’s tits?
31 looks trans
16 hit the prole criteria
and
25 looks kinda like a less crazy version of a French-Vietnamese GF I had.
Does anyone know of a palatable smoky scotch for less than forty bucks or so? I bought some Famous Grouse the Black Grouse and it tastes like rubbing alcohol that’s been swished around in an ashtray and then strained through an old pork rind. Foul, foul stuff.
Ardmore Traditional Cask is 45 on discount in Romania.
otherwise islay mist is palatable
smokehead maybe
there are some other islay blends
Blends don’t bother me. I’ll make a note of those and check around.
I used to pick up a blended Islay called Smokey Joe’s (link to review) that was pleasantly peaty. (I’m not a refined drinker by any means.) Debuted at $25, which was well worth it. Now it’s $35 and an occasional treat.
I thought Laphroig 10 was in the category, but maybe I’m wrong. I haven’t bought a bottle in ages.
t can be had for less than $40…
wait for it…
JUST LIKE WINSTON’S MOM!!!!
*standing ovation!*
$40? Winston’s Mom?
Is this that hyper-inflation I keep hearing so much about?
Tundra pays for bottle service.
Do not want to know what Winston’s Mom’s “bottle service” is.
It means if you pay extra for the bottle service, I pop the cork for you, darling.
I got 3 samples of Balvenie at 50 ml each at Costco: the 12 year old, the 14 year Caribbean cask, and the 17 year old. Good stuff!
I think the 12 year old runs right around $40 or so for 750 ml if you catch a sale. The sampler pack is an inexpensive way to see if you think it’s worth stretching your budget.
Uffda! Golden Rodents beat Louisville!
They did it for Pa Pitino!!!!!
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/kentucky-governor-deliberately-exposed-his-children-chickenpox-n985551?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
I do not understand why this is news.
“Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin says he deliberately exposed his children to chickenpox so they would catch the highly contagious disease and become immune.
During a Tuesday interview on Bowling Green radio station WKCT, Bevin said his children were “miserable for a few days” after contracting chickenpox but said “they all turned out fine.”
Bevin and his wife, Glenna, have nine children, four adopted.”
Do…do they not understand what a vaccine is? Exposing kids to chicken pox was THE VACCINE for most people above thirty today. You owned him, NBC. Fucking morons
It’s standard operating procedure if the kid manages to avoid accidental exposure for too long.
Exactly. Contracting it as an adult can be dangerous.
Yup. Parents use to have parties for other parents when one of their kids contracted the chicken pox. You’d lock all the kids in the same room so they would all get it. These Millennial reporters don’t seem to get that. Nor do they get that a vaccine does the exact same fucking thing.
What about They Fucking Love Science don’t you understand?
The part where they love something they don’t understand.
I love my wife.
That’s been standard operating procedure for decades. Mothers would call each other up when their kids got chickenpox so the could bring their kids over if they hadn’t had them yet.
I only had one blister when I got it as a kid, so I didn’t build up enough immunity. Later, my youngest son got shingles. My entire body friggin’ exploded in sores. I have blisters on my nuts. I was tits up in a blacked out room with a cold cloth over my eyes for four days.
“had”.
Probably the sickest I’ve ever been.
I had it twice, spaced two months apart. That was a completely blown summer.
Yes. That is exactly how it was when I was growing up. These J school reporters are too stupid to know anything
Additionally, the chickenpox vaccine does not confer lifelong immunity. Therefore, if you do not get boosters every few years, you stand the risk of contracting it at a later age.
For people like my son, who cannot expel heavy metals from his system well, the extended multitude of vaccines are not an option for him anyway.
Exposure to CP as a child can lead to Shingles when you get to be about my age.
Guy at work here got it two years ago…3+ weeks of misery.
As it happens, there’s a vaccine for that.
But it’s not very effective.
Supposedly, a new vaccine is close to release (what my rheumatologist told me).
Thanks for the reminder. I need to get that.
Everybody should. Shingles isn’t just incredibly painful, but it can lead to permanent nerve damage. A friend of mine lost a good bit of hearing and has nasty tinnitus due to his bout of shingles.
Some of my few remaining lefty FB friends are pissing themselves over a story about Democratic Socialists winning in Chicago. I’ll have to remember this when the inevitable stories about Chicago’s dire fiscal situation come out in a few years.
In a few years?
So the real question is: Is there a way for me to drink as much scotch as I want without the heartburn?
Get a PVC esophagus liner.
for me the limiting factor is potential weight gain and liver damage
Bah! I’ll worry about that if I live that long.
Weight gain? at 105 calories a jigger?
Or is it a case of “when I get blasted I go to an all-you-can-eat Waffle House?”
“Hmmm…he doesn’t happen to also like and write about IPA’s, does he?”
Taking MikeS’s comment to a new number.
When I was looking for a distributor, one of the ones I talked with asked me about styles I was planning. I mentioned how i would make an IPA, but it wasn’t going to be my flagship. I could make a real good IPA, but it still might only be the 100th best on the market. I was willing to put my Hefeweizen up against anyone else’s (Except Wiehenstephaner, theirs is better than mine, but I didn’t mention that). The owner’s response, “Will you please explain that to my employees.” I ended up going with someone else, but I liked him.
I love IPAs. But if all you are going to do is make a pretty good IPA, there is no point, there are enough great IPAs out there, that yours will get lost in the crowd.
The worst are the places that try to make a bad IPA their flagship. Look, to start with, in the Cleveland market, you’ve got Fat Head’s and Brew Kettle both distributing. Both of them have a huge stack of medals and awards for their IPA’s. Unless your IPA is better then theirs, you will not win the shelf space or the tap handles. And if it’s bad, it’s going to taint your whole brand.
A lot of the smaller breweries popping up are going for different stouts, porters, kettle sours, saisons, and Belgian styles.
A lot of the smaller breweries popping up are going for different stouts, porters, kettle sours, saisons, and Belgian styles.
I for one, am happy they are recognizing there are other niches in the beer market.
I bitch about IPA’s a lot, but it’s mostly tongue in cheek. I get it to a point, and I actually like many IPA’s. What frustrates me is there’s what; 200+ different beer styles? Yet I can go to a brew pub and 25 of their 40 taps will be IPA’s and PA’s. Come on. There’s so many good beers out there that have an IBU under 40.
I like it when breweries and pubs have a wide range of styles. And one thing I’ve been seeing more is breweries making a light American lager. It’s a great way to get more people to expand their beer horizons. You aren’t going to get most Bud drinkers to try your IPA or porter. But they might just give your lager a try. And then they might try your blonde…or your hefe…
On that last point, meh, sink or swim.
I believe in throwing people in the deep end of the beer pool.
Also, like it or not, American Lager is a legitimate beer style. And many people like it. It (obviously) excels as a lawnmower beer and a session beer. I enjoy seeing different breweries’ take on it.
You know what I like as a lawnmower beer?
1. Hennepin.
2. Ice water.
American lager is a rice product (or corn, depending on your non-american brewery of choice). There are a number of great fizzy yellow lager styles that would do the job better than American lagers. Give me a kellerbier any day.
A local brewery makes a really good blonde that I like as a lawnmower beer.
I got a number of decent NY pilsners in the last beer-it-forward.
My reasoning is two-fold:
1. I have seen it work.
2. While your idea sounds like a sound strategy, what I have seen is otherwise light flavored beers being “too strong” or “too much flavor” for Bud Light drinkers. Guy walks into brewpub, asks what they have that is closest to Bud Light (eyeroll from bartender towards me – she was my second favorite bartender all time). I forget what she serves him, but it was something light flavored, probably a lager. I remember it being very good, but its been over a decade, don’t remember the specific beer. While drinking it, he tells me that it tastes like it was filtered thru a dirty sock. Whatever, dude.
Oh yeah. It certainly won’t work for many people. But I’ve seen the baby steps approach gets results.
However…I’ve also seen people who think Michelob Amber Bock is a dark beer be surprised to learn that they like porters, so who knows what the best approach is.
I have seen the deep pool approach work more. Both work, but I think flavors that are too close doesnt work. “yeah, this helles lager is fine, but I still prefer Bud Light.” vs “Wow, this is entirely unlike anything I have ever drank before!”
I know what worked for me. I could count the beers I drank in college on 1 hand, because I thought I didnt like beer, because I thought american lagers sucked.
Then I moved to Switzerland and had some random brown beer. And then I moved to Wisconsin.
I still have a weird soft spot for Berghoff Dark. It is objectively not very good. But I drank the hell out of that when I lived in Madison in the early 90s.
You’re just going to brew pubs that don’t know how to sell then. Today (or maybe yesterday’s) tap list for Fat Head’s: 3 IPA’s (session, flagship, experimental) out of 19 of their own beers; 5 guest taps with no IPA/PA. Only 7 out of 34 at Platform (although I’ve seen them up to ~15 before).
Current holy grale tap list showing 2 IPAs.
https://untappd.com/v/holy-grale/8255
Two meads and a cider right now, that is unusual.
You are absolutely correct, but I don’t have a lot of choices in the frozen tundra. ?
The one that really sticks in my mind (and craw) was one of my local favorite brew pubs had a Surly tap take over. Well, shit. All Surly does is huge beers. So a dozen or more were taken up with all those, and then they still had all the usual suspect heavies up there as well.
I hate tap takeovers.
“I hate tap takeovers.”
You quoting me now?
Haha. Just because it seems like I enjoy disagreeing with you all the time doesn’t mean I can’t agree with you once in a while! ?
Tap Takeovers are marketing, and work in very limited realms:
1) For a special event (such as Cleveland Beer Week) when partnering with a brewery bringing rarities and one-offs
2) A brewery is entering a new market
I don’t drink a lot of beer but yes, one way to get me to do it would be to make a better lager. I’m tired of scouring through a long list of IPA’s trying to guess which one I won’t like the least.
What do you think of the Brooklyn Lager?
I like it. Around here it’s on every menu so that’s what I frequently wind up with.
Alright, that give a baseline for me to work with. Try keeping an eye out for (in order of ones I’ve had that should be in your area):
Southern Tier Swipe Light
Victory Prima Pils
Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold
Ithaca Lakeside Lager
Great Lakes Elliot Ness Lager
Will do!
In areas with “warmer climates” craft yellow lagers are quite common.
You may want to keep an eye out for Notch Brewing beers. All session beers, all tasty (even the IPA).
I play along sometimes with the snobbery, but seriously, drink what pleases you. If you like Bud Light and let some asshole hipster convince you that it is somehow ‘superior’ to drink an IPA that tastes like moldering ass to you you are doing life wrong.
Also, beer snobs are people with plebeian tastes who felt left out when the ‘cool’ people were talking about wine, so they decided to ruin beer as well.
There are way too many beer snobs, but the biggest ones are the people who refuse to drink anything other than american light lagers.
Its like being a Boone Farm snob.
but the biggest ones are the people who refuse to drink anything other than american light lagers.
Yes, drinking what you like is snobbery.
I’d say snobbery is when you go from just drinking what you like to denigrating people for disagreeing.
I agree, I also think I am not the one in this exchange doing so.
I’m not being snobbish, I just know you’re all wrong.
/tongue in cheek
This. If you want to drink Bud Light, fine.
But if you go into a brewpub don’t be surprised when they don’t carry Bud Light.
Tying this back to the hate for Canadian whiskey, once went to a work happy hour at a hipster-y joint that serves good whiskey and cocktails in Houston. Work buddy sidles up to the bar, and asks for some version of Crown Royal. Bartender sneers and informs him they don’t serve Crown Royal. It was funny.
The whole attitude of “your taste is inferior” when it comes to food and drink is kind of silly. There is an argument to be made for it in art, music or literature in that various creations are more cerebral or nuanced than others, but in food/drink that is not really the case.
The snobbery usually prefers the beverages with more bitter flavors over those with more sweet flavors, and is based in the idea that ‘developing’ your palate is better than just sticking with those flavors that appeal to you naturally. I’d buy in more if the snobs were saying “I have developed my palate and can get pleasure from pounding a cold Bud, but also can get pleasure from “X” artisanal brew,” but what I hear is not that. Instead it is a sneer at anyone drinking a Bud.
I am not even a beer guy. My ‘guilty’ pleasure in the drinking world is blended scotch mixed with soda, but if you want to assert your superiority based on what you drink, I am going to assume you are drinking it to be pretentious.
I’ll drink to that, Jarflax.
Hear, Hear.
I shy away from “gourmet” or “connoisseur”* or any of that, despite the fact that I might qualify; it seems too exclusionary and high-falutin’ (plus you’d sound like a douchebag if you called yourself that).
I’ve always liked ‘chowhound’ for that reason – yes, I like foie gras, but I also like hot dogs.
Eat and drink what you like, though I like to see people at least try new things. I take no small joy in introducing someone to something new that they end up loving (e.g., a consultant we had in town for weeks had his first oysters here).
“I like to see people at least try new things.”
I will drink somewhere north of 90% of beer styles. And the ones I don’t drink I have tried enough to know exactly why I don’t like them.
I miss the days when Willoughby brewing company carried Bud Light, but only sold it in brown paper bags.
They were the first brewery in Lake County (Ohio) since prohibition. They were surrounded by at least a dozen bars ranging from “get shanked dive” to “don’t fuck with people and you’re cool dive”. They even brewed a super light blonde ale, originally they didn’t carry Bud Light, but demand forced them to. So they had fun making the people who ordered it there stand out.
Stop by Chez Tres anytime for a Millwaukees’s Diet Beast.
Holy crap… the Bud Light superbowl commercial hilarity will not stop!
Miller/Coors should run an ad where they deliver the rice to Budweiser.
Inbev needs to make a new add with Miller’s lawyers playing a part. Double down on what is working. Your competitor doesn’t sue you unless the ad is working.
Succinct, readable and drinkable!
Okay, now I want a zoigl.
We need telelportation booths, so I can stop by Newhaus for a liter on the way home.
http://www.schafferhof-zoigl.de/en/schafferhof/zoiglbeer/
I wondered why they used the Star of David so I googled and:
The Zoigl Star is often confused with the Star of David. However, the Zoigl Star, aka the brewer’s star, has been used as a guild sign for brewers and maltsters since the 15th century, two centuries before it was officially adopted as a Jewish symbol.
I’m pretty sure that the Seal Of Solomon predates the 15th century
One triangle is for the 3 ingredients (they didnt know about yeast). The other triangle represents the process or something.
The Zoigl-Star, a six-angular star similar to the Star of David, was the sign of brewers in the middle ages symbolizing the three elements water, earth and fire used for brewing and the three ingredients water, malt and hops.
Fat Head’s put one of those up in their new location. Or maybe ((they)) control the brewers too!
http://www.zoigl.de/english/zoigltoday.html
Interesting – work firewall blocked that link, but not the previous one.
Mine blocked both.
*exasperated sigh*
There are way too many beer snobs, but the biggest ones are the people who refuse to drink anything other than american light lagers.
Its like being a Boone Farm snob.
Whatever. I don’t want to have to drink a chaser to wash the aftertaste of some “artisanal” hipster donkey piss out of my mouth.
This is what I was talking about. Not all craft beer is hipster.
And there are plenty of good yellow lagers in the world without limiting to american light lagers.
https://bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf
While the bjcp is in no way definitive when it comes to beer styles, it provides a useful list.
I fully admit to being a snob about wheat beers: If I could eliminate exactly one style from existence, it would be 1D.
Neutral yeast in a wheat beer is an abomination.
I’ll drink to that.