A very famous blended whisky, a rather good blend too. Jim Murray awarded Teacher's Highland Cream 90 points in his Whisky Bible.
Fruity, malty aromas. Just a hint of peat smoke with a good dollop of gooey toffee.
Soft smoke, barley malt and manuka honey. Hints of Malt-driven palate with soft spices.
Malt and smoke on the finish. Classic.
My uncle, Jack, used to drink Teacher's Scotch neat and smoke Senior Service cigarettes. Amazingly, he's still with us! I'm pleased to say, he's given up the smokes but not the Teacher's because he loves the taste of peated malt! Oh, did I mention the fact he was a master mariner for the British-India Steam Navigation Company too?
With the new bottle comes a different flavour, and in my mind if it was 45% Ardmore before it can't be the same now if it tastes different. Luckily a local store has about 10 750ml bottles and the same in the 1.14L bottle so I have a stash of the good stuff! Gone are the days where anything under $40CDN/$30AM/25€/£20 is pretty much trash in the new market. slainthé!
I agree with a previous review who mentioned that this whiskey changed because it definitely has. I'm not saying that the quality has nessescarilly slipped but rather that it seems like a new whiskey entirely. The peat is still there but it's not as front and centre as it was before they changed the bottle. It used to be the main attraction (in my opinion) because it offered a nice peated whiskey at an affordable price. Now... I can't explain it. I really can't put my finger on what's different about it. The brine seems to be gone and replaced with a toffee and vanilla note, which is still nice but it's not as rough (in a good way) as it was. Definitely give it a go. For the price, you can't go wrong and if you don't like it, it's not as if you wanted much money on it. This will forever, for as long as they produce it, be a permanent member of my collection :)
At a low cost you can savour a taste of the highlands and hints of Islay. This dram carries the sweetness and the slight peaty character of these areas at an uncompromising cost. Worth every penny. Cheers.
A blended whisky not too dissimilar to a single malt with a good peat flavour.
