|
Some of my favorites: Talisker 10 - The only distillery located on the isle of skye and hands down my favorite affordable single malt. Really unique in style and complexity. Similar to Islay Scotches yet different. A marriage of Smokiness and peatiness, with sugary tones and a complex finish that is both hot and smokey and lingers for quite a while. Its expensive for a 10 year and very polarizing. I would only recommend for those looking for an alternative to the Islay Scotches. Aberfeldy 12 - The 12 year is a fantastic aperitif summer Scotch and really affordable. Light and delicate body with with waves of heather honey, vanilla and crisp citrus. The finish is quick and refreshing. A few other cool facts about aberfeldy is the distillery was found and owned by the John Dewar and Sons (Dewar's blended scotch) and now houses the visitor center for Dewar's product line. Do not buy this if you're looking for something heavy or lingering. Auchentoshan Classic - The Single malt I recommend for those looking to transition from Bourbon or Irish into Scotch. The distillery is located near Glasgow and unique in that the product it is triple distilled (like Irish whiskey), and unpeated. I like the Three Wood more but its a huge price jump and significantly more expensive. A really enjoyable, lush scotch. Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon - Your standard sipping bourbon. Sweet corn, warm, round and caramel in style. Great straight or mixed. I know some people feel that the quality has degraded over the past few years but for what it is, its still a very good buy for its price point. It was also one of my first bourbons so it has some sentimental value. Michael Collins Blended Irish - A sleeper pick in the booming Irish whiskey category and a nice alternative to Jameson. Very representative of the Irish whiskey category. Rounded, semi sweet, honey, vanilla. I absolutely recommend this to anyone looking to for an alternative to Jameson. The Glenlivet Nadurra 16 - I just tried it for the first time a few days ago and have been really impressed with its quality and texture. The light floral notes really stand up to the higher % alochol. I haven't had enough to really comment beyond that though. Also on a side note, the Ultimate Beverage Challenge (https://www.ultimate-beverage.com/the-results), is an fantastic resource for anyone interested in spirits, wine and cocktails. Its a tasting evaluation company headed by Paul Pacult of the Spirits Journal. Tastings are done blind on multiple panel with wine and spirit published authors to judge the submitted products. They provide numerical ratings along with alcohol %, price, bottle shot, and tasting notes. They even have "great value icons" for those on a budget. Ample fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Jan 3, 2013 |
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 19:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 03:07 |
|
|
Ample posted:Their Whiskey section is particularly impressive and thorough. No Laphroaig? For shame 
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 19:55
|
|
|
Mr. Glass posted:No Laphroaig? For shame Unfortunately as with all tasting evaluations, you can't judge what wasn't submitted. Laphroaig is owned by Beam Inc. and in difficult economic periods its not uncommon for parent companies to withhold established brands from tasting competitions and rather focus their budget, time and energy on up and coming brands. Edit: A tasting award, medal, icon will always be helpful to any product. Even to a brand with as a devout following and reputation as Laphroaig - medals mean something and create industry buzz. However a tasting award will have a significantly larger impact on a brand looking to break into markets, distributors, importers and even retailers. Brand diversification is a really interesting part of the industry. There are companies like Brown-Forman, who make jack Daniels, Southern Comfort, that really suffered from the recession because most of their brands are priced in the premium range. Ample fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Apr 5, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 20:09
|
|
|
Those tasting medals are pretty much worthless outside of marketing potential for the brands themselves, IMHO.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 21:37
|
|
|
spankmeister posted:Those tasting medals are pretty much worthless outside of marketing potential for the brands themselves, IMHO. The same could be said of all awards in a sense. Take for example an Oscar or Grammy even. On one level it is praise and recognition and on another level it's all about marketing and hype. What a lot of consumers don't understand about the wine and spirits industry is that there are infinitely more products than retail shelf space. Medals are one way to establish credibility to a brand. Many consumers also buy off bottle design and acoladates. Winning awards also impacts sales, publicity and can lead to portfolio expansion. It's really inaccurate to call them worthless outside of marketing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 22:58
|
|
|
 A Laphroaig hat trick. My camera isn't good enough to capture the difference so I didn't take a shot of the glasses, but to my eyes the 10yo has the deepest colour of the three. Since Laphroaig uses colouring I assume this adjustment is made to make the 10yo closer to popular blends in tone. Looking at the QC and especially the 18yo, which are coloured as well, I think the uncoloured Laphroaig is quite pale and far away from the slight copper tone of the 10yo. Personally I wish they didn't colour (or if they did then only the 10yo), since the colour isn't a statement of age or quality and the common misconception of it being such should not be fed. I haven't had a glass of the 10yo in a long time and was surprised to find it as mellow on the nose as it turned out to be. There's a faint (compared to Ardbeg) odour of sea, kelp and salt with iodine and herbs, clean and fresh with a very noticeable smokiness. Compared to the 10yo the Quarter Cask seems to have the same characteristics but amplified in a very unbalanced and off-putting way. The fresh sea breeze carrying a wisp of smoke has here turned into a smoked fish stored on a fresh but thoroughly moist 2X4. The 18yo is missing the smell of gauze wrap that's a noticeable and often commented characteristic of the 10yo, or if it's there I can't find it. The smoke and peat give way to new tones here: bookleather, something citrusy and old wood. Tastewise the 10yo is a beautifully balanced dram all the way until the aftertaste, which is a little disappointing and hollow after the flavour bomb that it is in the mouth. Sweeter and more accessible than I remembered, still an excellent Islay malt for the price it commands. The QC is more bitter, stinging even. It's got quite a lot more aftertaste but it's unfortunately mostly from the tarry side of the flavour spectrum, and not from the side where excellent tar candy resides but from the tarry resin near pipe screens. The 18yo has exactly the same velvety texture as the other two, but here the different aromas have balanced and produced a slowly dissolving, satisfyingly sour mix of leather, pepper, anis and a hint of liquorice. The 10yo is no longer THE Islay malt I remembered it as since it was my introduction to single malts, but since it remains reasonably priced it's a solid choice although the market is currently saturated with a wealth of good stuff at this price range. I adore the 18yo but readily confess that its price point is painful, so I can't happily recommend it. For those loking for a QC-like experience I'd suggest trying Ardbeg Uigeadail which in my opinion does this whole smoked fish, salt and bacon thing a lot better. Deleuzionist fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Apr 6, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2012 19:44
|
|
|
To each his own, but I find Quarter Cask much more pleasant than the 10yr. I don't taste any more tar or fishy influence than the 10, but I do get a whole lot less medicine/bandaids. I get more fresh wood bonfire smoke instead of Islay peat smoke...Overall the whisky is sweeter to me and has a fresher mouthfeel...like clean mineral water. Quarter Cask is far more similar in profile to the 18 than the 10 is to anything else.
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2012 21:01
|
|
|
Laphroaig 18 is easily my favorite scotch (even over Laphroaig 25, which is a bit mouth-coatingly heavy for my taste), and in PA it's an absolute steal at $65. Say what you will about our prohibition-era liquor laws, the stuff we *can* get is really well-priced.
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2012 21:11
|
|
|
kidsafe posted:To each his own, but I find Quarter Cask much more pleasant than the 10yr. I don't taste any more tar or fishy influence than the 10, but I do get a whole lot less medicine/bandaids. I get more fresh wood bonfire smoke instead of Islay peat smoke...Overall the whisky is sweeter to me and has a fresher mouthfeel...like clean mineral water. Quarter Cask is far more similar in profile to the 18 than the 10 is to anything else. Nosing the empty glasses now, next to the 10 I can easily distinguish similar scents heavily accented in the QC (heavy bandaid replaced by heavy fresh wood), but compared to the two the lingering scent in the 18 glass doesn't remind me of either. The heaviest lingering aromas are: cream toffee, vanilla for the 18, iodine and a bit of salt water for the 10, and tarred wood for the QC.
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2012 21:51
|
|
|
Deleuzionist posted:
Definitely a fair assessment. While I dearly love the Quarter Cask, there are a few flaws one can find after tasting a few drams - the tarriness for one and a slightly ashy aftertaste I sometimes get. I think the Ardbeg 10 is a little more nuanced than the Laphroaig 10 and QC, and a bit more mild with more salty, sea notes. Haven't tried the Uigeadail yet or the famous Lagavaulin 16, both of which I've heard are excellent.
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2012 23:34
|
|
|
Deleuzionist posted:How would you say the QC and the 18 are similar? There is no skunkiness in the 18yr, and there is so much more wood...it didn't remind me necessarily of old wood. The 18yr and QC are both much sweeter to me than the 10yr, and the peat dissipates as it dilutes in the mouth. I had the 25yr and Ardmore 30yr recently as well, but it's hard for me to form an opinion on whiskies I'd likely never keep for myself.
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 00:06
|
|
|
I agree it's difficult to form any kind of a solid opinion on something you can only have a glass or two of and with no familiar bottles to compare with. By old wood I mean the kind of taste that doesn't seem to develop into whiskys under 15 or 16 years old - not as stale as the wood note in older Glenfarclas whiskys but more soft, maybe the word is "rich" or "mature" instead of "old". NightConqueror posted:Definitely a fair assessment. While I dearly love the Quarter Cask, there are a few flaws one can find after tasting a few drams - the tarriness for one and a slightly ashy aftertaste I sometimes get. I think the Ardbeg 10 is a little more nuanced than the Laphroaig 10 and QC, and a bit more mild with more salty, sea notes. Haven't tried the Uigeadail yet or the famous Lagavaulin 16, both of which I've heard are excellent. Is anybody well familiar with the Auchentoshan 12 or older ones? I had a dram of the 12 which was otherwise nice but I was hit with a heavy alcohol aftertaste. Was it just a fluke or is this taste typical to the 12 or the distillery's other products? Deleuzionist fucked around with this message at 00:43 on Apr 7, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 00:30
|
|
|
So I used to love Bruichladdich 12, and I find that I like the new Bruichladdich "The Laddie Ten" significantly less. What other malts are similar to the old 12, so I can try them in search of a replacement?
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 00:42
|
|
|
Deleuzionist posted:Is anybody well familiar with the Auchentoshan 12 or older ones? I had a dram of the 12 which was otherwise nice but I was hit with a heavy alcohol aftertaste. Was it just a fluke or is this taste typical to the 12 or the distillery's other products? Auchentoshan as a distillery tends to produce whiskies with a significant level of burn, in my experience. I have had most of their range at one time or another, and have not been impressed. Recently bought a bottle of the A'bunadh bottling #32 - will write up some notes. For those who like sherried drams, the A'bunadh is amongst the greatest. Glenfarclas has some exceptional sherried whiskies too, and the 12 is a perennial favorite on my shelf. ETA - if you like Bruichladdich 12, try Jura. Same distilling team, and approach.
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 00:48
|
|
|
I've probably mentioned this before but Lagavulin 16 is ambrosia. Best scotch I've ever tried.
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 02:40
|
|
|
pork never goes bad posted:Recently bought a bottle of the A'bunadh bottling #32 - will write up some notes. For those who like sherried drams, the A'bunadh is amongst the greatest. Glenfarclas has some exceptional sherried whiskies too, and the 12 is a perennial favorite on my shelf. Regarding Jura...is what you say actually true? Bruichladdich is on the west side of Islay and Jura is obviously across a small channel from Islay to the east. Jura is owned by White & Mackay while Bruichladdich is independent... I guess what you say about style does run true to most distilleries under parent brands. For example the Inver House brands like Balblair, AnCnoc, and Old Pulteney all have an uncanny similar syrup sweetness to them.
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 03:23
|
|
|
revmoo posted:I've probably mentioned this before but Lagavulin 16 is ambrosia. Best scotch I've ever tried. That reminds me of a few weeks ago when I mentioned in passing to an old friend that I really enjoyed scotch. He lightened up and told me, "Hey, I went to the store to celebrate and I just bought the first expensive scotch that looked good." He goes on to tell me he got a bottle of Lagavulin 16, and when I eagerly asked him how he enjoyed it he responded, "Oh, it's pretty good. Not great for doing shots, but it goes down smooth with a little coke." 
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 05:40
|
|
|
Ample posted:The same could be said of all awards in a sense. I was talking to a marketing person at IBM and she showed me a huge binder full of awards they had won. Being polite, I congratulated her to which she replied, "Believe me, we bought every single one and they were expensive." Her openness about it really surprised me considering her job. Content: I never really loved a scotch until I had Lagavulin.
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 08:09
|
|
|
pork never goes bad posted:Auchentoshan as a distillery tends to produce whiskies with a significant level of burn, in my experience. I have had most of their range at one time or another, and have not been impressed. Agreed on the A'bunadh, at that price and strength it's a steal unless one just doesn't like oloroso whiskys. NightConqueror posted:"Oh, it's pretty good. Not great for doing shots, but it goes down smooth with a little coke." Deleuzionist fucked around with this message at 09:04 on Apr 7, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 09:01
|
|
|
Deleuzionist posted:That makes me villagers with torches and pitchforks mad. Luckily my manager was of the same mindset, so complaints were swiftly dismissed.
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 10:38
|
|
|
kidsafe posted:I had batch 37 of A'bunadh and it's still way too 'big' for me. In the Aberlour range, my pick is still the 18yr. Glendronach 15yr and 18yr are also fairly accessible sherry monsters...without low-medium peating in Glenfarclas. What I say is true about Bruichladdich 12, not about the distillery in general. The owners at the time, Jim Beam, brought the Jura crew over after the distillery officially mothballed in 1994 to produce some more, I guess. I think I read that on K&L's blog a while ago? And I just checked my bottle - I have 39 not 32! I love it, do love the Glenfarclas as I mentioned, but will have to try the Glendronach next. Sherried whiskies are definitely my favourite, and I like a lot of the fruitcake like character that you can only get with heavy sherry influence. I have been told that Bladnoch have some good sherried offerings, but have not had much chance to research yet.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2012 06:02
|
|
|
Semprini posted:I used to work in bars, and would flat-out refuse to serve someone a malt and coke. A guy once asked me for 2oz Lagavulin, 1oz Kahlua, fill cream and roll served in a large tumbler. Yeah.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2012 16:54
|
|
|
Semprini posted:I used to work in bars, and would flat-out refuse to serve someone a malt and coke. I find this kind of attitude really annoying. Every now and then I like to drink my whisky in a weird way, just for fun. Like with ice, as a highball, with birch sap, coke, sweet mead, whatever. How I drink my malt is nobody elses business. Nothing wrong with informing the customer that the way they want it served is generally considered wasting the drink. Or if principles really get in the way, selling them in separate glasses and leaving the destruction to the customer. But flat out refusing... no. Oh and the laga-kahlua thingy sounds fun!
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2012 17:53
|
|
|
smn posted:I find this kind of attitude really annoying. Every now and then I like to drink my whisky in a weird way, just for fun. Like with ice, as a highball, with birch sap, coke, sweet mead, whatever. How I drink my malt is nobody elses business. I think the whole "educate the consumer" thing is in play, peaking with pretentious speakeasy bars*. Customers are better informed about whiskey, and more willing to try new spirits than even a half dozen years ago when that education was needed. A bartender can talk with me about whiskey, not at me. Making it into a light-hearted "Single malt and coke? Should I try that, I always drink it straight to get the nuances of smoke/fruit/whatever" is different then "Wow, you're clueless- no drinks for you". Though refusing to mix some wacky $250 limited edition bottle with coke with probably for the best. *There are plenty of good ones though! I like 'em **Last night I polished off a bottle of Glenmorangie Finealta Private Edition, drank neat. The smoke/citrus/spice was a nice mix.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2012 18:34
|
|
|
Mr. Glass posted:Laphroaig 18 is easily my favorite scotch (even over Laphroaig 25, which is a bit mouth-coatingly heavy for my taste), and in PA it's an absolute steal at $65. Say what you will about our prohibition-era liquor laws, the stuff we *can* get is really well-priced.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2012 22:23
|
|
|
Haverchuck posted:Jesus Christ that's a good price for that, it's like three times that where I am. I had the opportunity to meet their master distiller John Campbell at a tasting event a couple of weeks ago. He was a cool guy but Beam Global had been carting him from event to event all day long and he looked as if he would rather have been napping in a hotel room. I'm sure they wouldn't mind owning a bigger piece of Bourbon County either.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 01:35
|
|
|
I had my first (and probably only taste ever) of Pappy Van Winkle 23 yesterday. Really nice, but at $300 a bottle, I'll pass. The 20 year on the other hand was absolutely outstanding and would be worth the $150/bottle price...if I could find it 
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 02:02
|
|
|
Haverchuck posted:Jesus Christ that's a good price for that, it's like three times that where I am. I had the opportunity to meet their master distiller John Campbell at a tasting event a couple of weeks ago. He was a cool guy but Beam Global had been carting him from event to event all day long and he looked as if he would rather have been napping in a hotel room. Yeah. The thing about PA's pricing is that it's a flat markup based on the volume of the bottle, plus an 18% tax (I think); so there's literally no such thing as three-buck chuck, but the top-shelf stuff is way cheaper than you can get it in other states.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 03:08
|
|
|
Vincent Valentine posted:A guy once asked me for 2oz Lagavulin, 1oz Kahlua, fill cream and roll served in a large tumbler. I was making the  face at my screen and my girlfriend had to ask me 2 or 3 times what was wrong.What the gently caress.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 08:27
|
|
|
kidsafe posted:There are rumors Diageo may just buy Beam Global for Sauza if they can't absorb Cuervo. I'm not sure if they are still talking or if things fell through, but it would be weird if Diageo owned three of the eight Islay distilleries as a consequence. The last round of mergers/acquisitions of Distilling companies ended up with the Monopolies & Mergers Commission (UK) making Distillers/Diageo give up Laphroaig. They probably wouldn't do the same now... I'm sure Pernod Ricard (Chivas Brothers) would love a distillery on Islay. With Vijay Mallaya's money problems, Whyte & Mackay's distilleries (Jura, Dalmore, Fettercairn) could be up for grabs as well.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 10:12
|
|
|
Vincent Valentine posted:A guy once asked me for 2oz Lagavulin, 1oz Kahlua, fill cream and roll served in a large tumbler. Sounds like a really weird / modern / alternative take on the Brandy Alexander. Ample fucked around with this message at 16:40 on Jan 3, 2013 |
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 21:50
|
|
|
Kenning posted:I was making the The name of it is an "Aggravation", you can guess how it got the name. smn posted:I find this kind of attitude really annoying. Every now and then I like to drink my whisky in a weird way, just for fun. Like with ice, as a highball, with birch sap, coke, sweet mead, whatever. How I drink my malt is nobody elses business. This is totally fair. I grew up around beer snobs, and people complicating what is supposed to be the most simple joy one can experience made me really, really angry and I swore I'd never do it. That said, most bartenders spend a shitload of time learning about alcohol and why one thing goes with another, or why one thing is a particularly good brand, and a lot of this is evident in drink names like the popular Rusty Nail. I can't expect everyone to know the etiquette behind drinking, and I can't expect everyone to know what should be really blatantly obvious choices(no you idiot don't order Baileys and Lime Juice what the gently caress is wrong with you). It might give me that twinge of frustration, but I deal with it. But if you order Liquor and Coke, you aren't ordering something because you like the taste. You're ordering it because you want to get drunk. The difference in taste between a rum and coke and a scotch and coke is negligible. Why bother? Just get some rotgut out of the well, throw it in with coke and you're set and everyone goes home happy. Taking really nice brands and giving them the same treatment is a sign that you don't care and just want to be drunk, and I hate dealing with drunks. quote:Oh and the laga-kahlua thingy sounds fun! It isn't. like someone said above, try a Brandy Alexander instead.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 06:46
|
|
|
I'm tempted to try it, but with something like Black Bottle.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 08:10
|
|
|
So tried some Blanton's Single Barrel and Wild Turkey rare breed on the weekend. The Blanton's bottle is nearly done as a result, but the Rare breed is a bit meh. I really liked the smooth, light/fruity flavours of the Blantons - anyone recommend any similar burbon's worth exploring? The Wild Turkey had too much burn to really be enjoyable to me. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 10:36 on Apr 10, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 10:33
|
|
|
Always Pappy van Winkle, if you can find it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 10:34
|
|
|
spankmeister posted:Always Pappy van Winkle, if you can find it. Holy Christ, that's 200-300 dollars a bottle here(!!). I suspect the Australia tax is at work on that. Unfortunately that's a bit much for my pocket.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 10:40
|
|
|
Cthulhu Dreams posted:Holy Christ, that's 200-300 dollars a bottle here(!!). I suspect the Australia tax is at work on that. Unfortunately that's a bit much for my pocket.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 10:40
|
|
|
spankmeister posted:
I may be misunderstanding the marketing of the related brands. The only stuff that is sold as 'Pappy Van Winkle' is the 20 and 23 year old. The 10 year old is Old Rip Van Winkle which clocks in at $145. Looks like it's a grey market style importer as well. Either way, yeah, bloody hell.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 10:46
|
|
|
Cthulhu Dreams posted:I may be misunderstanding the marketing of the related brands. The only stuff that is sold as 'Pappy Van Winkle' is the 20 and 23 year old. The 10 year old is Old Rip Van Winkle which clocks in at $145. Oh right, I had forgotten about that. It's good but I'm not sure if it's $145 Australian good. Grey import sounds about right, that's how I get it here in Europe as well. (But I paid a much more agreeable €60 if I recall correctly, which is a tad expensive for a 10YO bourbon but eh.)
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 10:49
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 03:07 |
|
|
spankmeister posted:Oh right, I had forgotten about that. Yeah, that's a bit pricey for me. 3 bottles of Blanton's for the same price. To add some additional datapoints to the above request, I just cracked a bottle of Woodford Reserve and the Booker Noes small batch and was surprised by how much of a kick the Booker Noes has. Then I actually read the label. 63%? Yikes. Cthulhu Dreams fucked around with this message at 12:19 on Apr 10, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 12:14
|
|