Whisky (every)day™!

Tonight will be day three of the Grouse Experiment. I am more or less enjoying it so far--taste and feel is pretty good; still getting used to the afterburn.

Turns out the liquor store nearest my work has a much better selection than any of the ones near my house, so I was able to pick up a bottle of Bulleit rye at lunch, which I believe I've heard good things about and which is certainly a lot more reasonably priced than the Knob Creek. I'll report back!

AWW YISSS. That's my favorite rye for whiskey sours and other regular bar drinks when I'm not feeling the bourbon.

Try adding a couple of drops of water to the glass. Personally I prefer mine straight up but you might find that a little water smooths out that afterburn.

The local store likes me after my little excursion buying, sadly, for others' presents. I'm still trying to figure out how to get my hands on the £100 bottle of 25 year old bowmore for myself without causing a divorce.

I like grouse straight up, but yeah, a small splash of water can really make a huge difference with whisky. Or throw in an ice cube (not the purist way to go, but if you like it that way, who cares)?

And if you have to use an ice cube, then you should at least use one of these:

Talisker, you and Hanzii just got me to order a bottle of scotch. Damn.

My guess is Talisker will know when I name dropped him and Hanzii, As will Hanzii. Come to think of it, I guess you read the secrets Santa thread ? You will find your answer there, young Padawan.

Where can I buy this? I must own it.

They are from Japan. You can get them from Kotobukiya's US store, though I'm not sure if they ship internationally. They have other ice trays, too, though the Death Star one is clearly the best.

The distillers.

This is my latest purchase for myself - it's swedish, but for tax reasons I bought it on offer in a Danish store on the German side of the border. Makes perfect sense...

I've long wanted to have a Mackmyra, but they were always priced above better known Scottish brands, so I could never get myself to part with the money. This was priced like a regular single malt. It's the Special 04 bottled in 2010 (but the age is unknown, but considering they started production in 1999, it's not old) with the subtitle Double Dip Bourbon because it has matured first i large bourbon casks before ending in a smaller 30 liter cask. It's quite fruity and very smooth with a dash of water (at 53% alcohol, I need that).

I see that whisky+honey must be the new black. These guys even make one of course called Bee.

You can also buy a barrel - that's something some Scottish distillers do too. I think I'll ask for pricing and see if I can't get some colleagues to chip in. Could be fun.

Yeah. Drink it however tastes good -- unless you're drinking it right at cask strength (note: do not do this), it's been modified from the original on the way to the bottle anyway, so if you add a little water or an ice cube you're just tweaking it to your tastes a bit.

People get too wrapped up in the 'right' way to enjoy this stuff, when the right way is really just whatever way is enjoyable for you. Experiment and find that way and then give absolutely zero fucks if anybody tries to make you feel bad for it.

More attitudes like this in the coffee thread and we might still have Gus_Smedstad around these parts.

I think I'm just going to keep drinking it straight up. There was once a time that I put milk and sugar in my coffee and didn't much like beer; I now scoff heartily at that self. A little burn on an otherwise-tasty beverage ain't gonna stop me.

yep. I vary all the time. Just be *aware* of what things do to whisky, and you can enjoy them all independently. Sometimes I'm in the mood for straight up. I put some water in when I want better access to the basic flavors when testing new brands or doing tasting comparisons. I use ice sometimes because few things are as awesomely refreshing as some on-the-rocks, no matter that it tends to mask and homogeinize the flavors.

Basically, do whatever.

Ginger ale. Peaty whisky. Awesome combo. No, not kidding.

Ginger ale and any whisky, for that matter. Ginger ale's a great mixer.

I go through about a bottle or two of single malt a year. Last year I got a bottle of Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix which was $90 then and it was the best whiskey I've ever tasted. I am sad that it's gone.

Then I went to a Glenfiddich 12, which was fine, but no Snow Phoenix. I like the Glenfiddich, as it's got a very light, honey taste and works great with just a bit of water.

Currently I'm working on Glengarioch 1797 Founder's Reserve, which is a bit more peaty (though it's no Ardbegh) and burns a little. I'm still looking for a good way to drink it. I think it's too harsh for just a bit of water. I've been having it on the rocks and adding more ice than I usually would and once the ice melts a bit it mellows out (or I do).

Also, love Irish whiskey and ginger ale. Tullemore Dew is my preferred there.

A few years back, Dalmore had a cigar blend that was $30 a bottle and tasted pretty darn fine. Nowadays their cigar malt goes for over $100, which is too much for my blood.

With a new whisky, try it a few different ways -- neat, with a splash of water, on the rocks, etc -- you never know for certain what you'll like best until you try. Personally, with anything significantly over 80 proof, I always start with a splash of water before tasting it straight -- stronger whiskies straight up will more or less blow out your taste buds (or at least they do that to me :)

Holy balls, the cigar malt is a hundred bucks now? I liked it fine when it was under $40, but there are all kinds of scotch I'd take ahead of it in the $75-$100 range (Oban, Lagavulin 16, Balvenie 15, etc etc etc).

And yes, I am sharing my whiskey thoughts in order to pre-load for next year's Secret Santa.

:-)

Tonight I made an old-fashioned using Jura single malt as the base in celebration of International Fuck Those Guys Day.

Ok, so I'm trying to expand my understanding of Scotch. I usually drink Bowmore 12; I like it quite a bit. I've tried other Islays like Caol Ila 18, but I found that one to be well...not as good. So, last week I had a business trip to Las Vegas. What a business trip generally means for me is that I work a little during the day, and every night I'm drinking on the company's dime. So why I try not to order 40 dollar glasses of Scotch, I can get away with spending more than I would if I was paying for it (I'm sorta a cheap bastard).

So, I tried: Bowmore 12 (my usual drink), Bowmore 18, Oban 14, Glenlivet 12 (that bar didn't have much else), Laphraoig 18, and Yamazaki 18. I had multiples of each...just to be sure (cough).

Of all those..the Oban 14 and 18 were quite nice, but I've had those ones before. I also really liked the Yamazaki 18, but I guess I shouldn't admit that because it's not from Scotland. I didn't like the Laphroaig very much, which surprised me. The Glenlivet is drinkable, but boring.

So...where would you guys who know a lot more about Scotch than me suggest I start expanding my horizons into?

Just read this. Time to get my drink on. Where'd I put that can of ginger ale?

I just got back from a trip to Scotland. So....



I would say you should think of this not as "scotch" but as whisk(e)y. Scotch is malt whisky; there are of course other types.

The easiest way to subdivide scotches is between blends and single malts. Blends contain malt whisky and also neutral grain whisky. Single malts are just one malt. This means they have more cachet and are costlier, but that doesn't unequivocally mean "better".

Every single malt is different, but you can roughly break them into 3 groups:

Islay. Smokey, peaty, iodine taste. The Bowmore and Laphroig you have already tried are in this class.
Lowland: only a few of these. Similar to Irish whisky, more body, fairly grainy taste
Highland: malty, much less smoke, light to medium body
Subclass of Highland: Speyside. Malty to the point of sweetness, usually nearly no peat.
Another subclass is Orkney, which I won't get into here but will summarize as "drink Highland Park"

Across the board and in every region, older whiskys will tend to taste more like oak than like their younger versions.

You can bankrupt yourself trying different single malts. Given what you have already tried, my recommendation would be to try some young Speysides to show you the malty side of the range. Glenlivet is boring. I'd suggest Glenfarclas or Glenmorangie.

If a whisky is above around 45% alcohol, you should dilute it with some good water so you can actually taste it.

Last note for now, since I am typing this on my phone: in my experience, counter intuitively, trying bourbons and ryes will help you understand malt whisky more since it makes it clear what is common between them (oak and alcohol) and what is different (the base grain).

The last thing I will say, just to start a fight, is that even though you are not legally allowed to call it scotch, the Japanese make better scotch than many Scots distilleries. The younger Yamazaki is an awesome malty whisky, and the Hakushu is on the smoky end of the range. And many of their blended whiskys are super good as well.

The younger Yamazaki is also fantastic for mixing if you want a little more character than your standard blended whisky.

About the only downside is that it's pretty weird to have a delicious nice whisky that comes in a screwtop bottle.

Also, I agree with Peter's recommendations, especially about the Glenmorangie (but this is partially because I'm a fiend for the stuff)

Oh, one addition: if you want a different take on Islays, go for Ardbeg, Smokier and peatier than the Bowmore, but very very nice.

Thanks, Ely and Peterb. I'm much more a fan of single malts then blended; I'll drink Johnnie Walker Black if its the only one available, but I'm not much of a fan otherwise. Blue is quite good, but for upwards of 200 a bottle, it's not that good in my opinion.

You're exactly right on the price issue, Peter. Scotch is too damn expensive to buy a bottle just to try it. I'll work on a Speyside next, thanks.

And thanks also nlanza...you posted right as I was trying to type my post on my iPhone. I'm also interested in the Ardbeg.

That's exactly the problem with the Blue. If I'm paying north of $200, I want to end up with something as good as this:



Mmm, Signet.

Oh, so one thing I've been meaning to try: Apparently "McClelland's" is a sort of 'fake' brand of single-malt scotch produced by Bowmore for the low end of the market. People whose opinions I trust say that most of them aren't that good, except for their Islay, which is, basically, Bowmore's basic bottling, and sells for something like $20-ish a bottle. So at some point I will try it.

In terms of blended whiskys for value, I agree with everyone who identified Famous Grouse as living on the sweet spot of the blended scotch whisky price/performance curve. I'm also told Sheep Dip is good, but I haven't tried it yet. Compass Box makes some wonderful blends as well, but they basically cost as much as a good single malt, so they're not really about price/performance IMHO.

I refuse to believe the Johnny Walker Blue can possibly be worth me spending any of my own money on it, ever. However, I do admit to being curious about their Green bottling, which is basically a vatted malt, if I reclal correctly, coming in at compass-box-ish prices.

I'm delving into the world of American Whiskey. I had a sensational Islay from Aurora as my secret santa gift and I know what I'm like so I thought I'd delve into the world of relatively unknown American Offerings as something to try when I don't want to glug the good stuff

I should qualify that doesn't mean that I think US whiskey is bad but I've never heard of this stuff (and it's a lot cheaper):

I'm trying a Pikesville Rye.

It's a big step above Jack daniels and Jim Beam in that you can drink it without it stripping your throat away. Bourbon/Ryes can benefit from an ice cube and this might well do. Woodford Reserve is my benchmark when it comes to American Whiskey and I think this is not far off, a little rough round the edges maybe but I like that in a whiskey sometimes. I wouldn't object if you wanted to mix it and in fact I think it would be great with ginger ale.

Makers Mark it is't but it's about 1/2 the price, I reckon it's worth a look.

Getting all of the holiday baking and present wrapping calls for a nice big glass of Talisker 10.

My mother remains somewhat confused that I've started stocking her liquor cabinet so I'll have something better to drink than Dewar's when I visit. None of her other guests seem to be interested in the Talisker or the Laphroaig Quarter Cask. Maybe this year's addition of the Compass Box Great King Street blend will go over better with people.

And if not, I'll just drink it all. That'll, you know, just be awful.

I am drinking this:



I apologize, that is WhiskEy not Whisky.

It it still delicious though. Merry Christmas, everyone.

I take it back, I thought makers mark was more expensive than it is. A couple of supermarkets have picked it up so the price has come right down, wasn't that long ago that bourbon here meant JD, jim beam if you wanted something even more exotic.

Mmm. Bulleit Rye is so good, and it's a great deal for what it costs. Now I wish I'd bought some the other day -- my mother's house is sadly rye-less.