JohnM wrote:In terms of flavour, that is. Scotch drinkers often say Auchentoshan, but I think they are not very alike at all.
For me, it's Bunnahabhain. Especially with the Bushmills 1975. That kind of boiled sweets taste. Maybe it's why I like Bunnahabhain so much.
Not sure John but I suppose people do compare the Auchentoshan 3 wood to the Bushmills 16yo(Also 3 wood) which can be quite similar but that has got more to do with the flavourings of the 3 woods rather than the whiskey and of course they are both triple ditstilled for smoothness
But as you say there possibly the similarity ends ... this sort of talk always slightly annoyed me as they always bung Bushmills & Auchentoshan together yet split hairs about Ardbeg 10 (L7) & (L8) or what ever
I also really like Bunnahabhainn too (except the 12yo which I find too Malty or something) ... However I always found Bunny had a slightly different spice bite than Bushmills and of course the touch of smoke does not help to parallel them either but then I tend to revel in the Bushmills Sherry casks and are as good as some of the sherried speysiders and better than Macallan cask strength (imo) so it would be interesting to compare them. To be quite honest though I've never really thought about it too much.