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Anyone else going to WhiskyFest SF on Friday and want to meet up? I'd link the the event page, but it's sold out now.
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Oct 6, 2011 08:25
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Kenning posted:Oh thank god. poo poo, now I need to choose between this and a single village Oaxacan mezcal for my next fancy bottle of liquid smoke lightly flavored with spirit.
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Oct 7, 2011 23:51
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Highland Park smoke is very one-dimensional to me...like I'd imagine coal or coke smoke. If you want to try something as challenging as Laphroaig, but for different reasons, then I'd look at the new Springbank 12yr Cask Strength. It has brine, smoke, sulphur (burnt match heads), and a good amount of sherry influence. One of the most unique tastes in all of the scotch whisky industry. I also never hesitate to suggest the various Compass Box blends. Peat Monster (not really all that monstrous) has the characteristic Islay peat and a lot of Speyside fruitiness. Spice Tree, Oak Cross, Great King Street...pick one, you can't really go wrong.
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Oct 10, 2011 02:30
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Not sure what Dalmore's plans are for Gran Reserva, but it might be replaced by the born-again Cigar Malt. For that $75-100 range, I do like the Diageo Distillers Edition malts in general (in before anti-ACE sentiments.) Caol Ila, Talisker, Cragganmore in particular are quite good...and this is coming from someone who doesn't like the standard Talisker that much. Oban 18yr is still fairly available for now as well... drat I fee like a shill for Diageo now.
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Oct 14, 2011 05:44
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kaldas posted:They've released both 14 year and 17 year bottles. Haven't personally tried the 14.
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Oct 14, 2011 05:49
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coronaball posted:What are the major differences between Laphroaig 10 and the Quarter Cask, other than price? Winter is coming, and with it the need for a bottle of peaty scotch in my liquor cabinet. Laphroaig Quarter Cask: More wood, cleaner peat smoke, sweeter, more mineral taste.
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Oct 14, 2011 08:02
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Dalmore and Macallan are masters of PR and they stir up the hype machine with novel 'vintage' replicas like these or ever more expensive super-old releases. I believe the third and final bottle of Dalmore Trinitas recently sold for a record value. A while ago Macallan actually got in trouble because they based an entire release on what ended up being a forgery. Richard Paterson, Dalmore and White&Mackay's master blender, is very good at his craft. Dalmore King Alexander and Jura's peated offerings are some of my favorites, but I very much doubt the Shackleton release is worth the premium. TobinHatesYou fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Nov 5, 2011 |
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Nov 5, 2011 07:44
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That's a pretty ordinary selection besides the Arran offerings. I would take this opportunity to indulge in the older expressions on that list, since practically everything else is available at a high-end grocer or spirits shop.
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Nov 7, 2011 04:02
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Aglet56 posted:Picked up my first bottle of Laphroaig 10 year, and holy cow I don't know why I wasn't drinking more Scotch before. Just two days and a couple of glasses later and this may be my favorite liquor ever. Smokey and delicious and I stopped by the whisky shop tonight and watched someone come in, beeline to the glass case and tell the clerk to ring up two bottles of Port Ellen 9th Release. He was in and out in about 5 minutes, didn't even browse the rest of the selection. As for me I grabbed a bottle of Hazelburn 12yr and Compass Box Hedonism. I was glad to learn that Hazelburn has only the faintest wisp of sulphur/burnt matches, unlike traditional Springbanks. Hedonism of course is a different beast altogether. It's a puffy marshmallow...there is some bourbon-like quality to the whisky, but it's so much more subtle and rounded. TobinHatesYou fucked around with this message at 07:37 on Nov 22, 2011 |
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Nov 22, 2011 07:30
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I tried Four Roses Single Barrel and Small Batch at WhiskyFest is that I perceive the Single Barrel to be sweeter, but the interwebs generally says otherwise. I asked Rutledge about it and he agreed with me, but he may have just been saying that to be polite. I find Single Barrel to be their best expression by far assuming consistency.
TobinHatesYou fucked around with this message at 09:09 on Nov 23, 2011 |
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Nov 23, 2011 07:39
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Jo3sh posted:Whisky with my Dad after Thanksgiving dinner this evening: I was surprised to find Lagavulin 12yr on the shelf at the local shop. It doesn't typically make it over here, so I couldn't resist... TobinHatesYou fucked around with this message at 12:34 on Nov 27, 2011 |
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Nov 27, 2011 10:00
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mojo1701a posted:Really? I was overseas about two months ago, and I kept seeing it at the duty-free, and thought I missed the chance when I came home and didn't get it (Instead, I bought a bottle of Jura Superstition, Ardbeg Blasda, a Balvenie 14 rumcask, and a small Glenfiddich 15). I went to a nearby LCBO and saw it, so now I'm actually thinking of picking it up if it's going to be for a limited time.
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Dec 1, 2011 07:38
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Alberta Premium being one of the exceptions, though even that doesn't have the same edge as American ryes for whatever reason.
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Dec 9, 2011 10:15
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Abel Wingnut posted:I tried Peat Monster today and fell in love with Islays and the surge of smoke and the body high it induced. Didn't care for the Compass Box Asyla Blended.
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Dec 11, 2011 18:25
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Lagavulin 16 and Balvenie 15 Single Barrel have opposing effects on me. At Thanksgiving this year a bunch of friends who don't drink much alcohol were given Lagavulin to try. Luckily they were not put off by the smoke, and were very quick to mention how smooth it was with no alcohol burn. Balvenie 15 is more raw and does not mask the alcohol as well, as most single barrel expressions tend not to. I suspect he would rate the Balvenie similar to Glenmorangie. While Talisker is quite different than Lagavulin, it does suggest he can handle a bit of peat smoke and brine. If you want to be daring, you might consider splurging on Compass Box Hedonism. It's a blended Scotch grain whisky, so it's made very much like a bourbon...down to the cereal grains and distilling process. It is more mellow than bourbon...being aged in used barrels and I doubt there's any rye used Scotch grain recipes. TobinHatesYou fucked around with this message at 11:33 on Dec 12, 2011 |
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Dec 12, 2011 08:58
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dbldown posted:^^Love me some Springbank, I recommend it as often as I can to people that don't like peated whisky's. Deanston was also given the 46% unchill-filtered treatment from Burn Stewart, just like Bunnahabhain. I've been meaning to try it, but my bottle rotation is quite unwieldy as is.
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Dec 28, 2011 09:32
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spankmeister posted:Absolutely, nothing wrong with glenlivet, but it doesn't hold a candle against HP, imho. TobinHatesYou fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Dec 29, 2011 |
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Dec 28, 2011 09:36
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"[ts posted:xenophobe"] Hazelburn 12 if you can find it and are willing to pay is also a fair mix of sherry sweetness plus heavy wood influence and seaside influence. Old Pulteney as well...it has a reputation for being 'salty,' but it's really not that extreme.
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Dec 31, 2011 10:55
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5 perfectly suitable/drinkable single malts for getting your feet wet. AnCnoc 12yr - Abundantly sweet, yellow fruits. Glengoyne 12yr - Abundantly sweet, dark/red fruits. Glenfarclas 10/12yr - A bit heavier/'bigger' and not as sweet. A hint of smoke, but not really. Glenrothes Select Reserve - Also big and malty, some tart fruit / rind. Glendronach 12yr - Smooth, Macallan-like sherry. Dark/red fruit.
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Jan 7, 2012 09:34
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From that list I would consider the following... Rich, sweet: Aberlour 12yr Balvenie 12yr Double Wood Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban Balanced: Cragganmore 12yr Glenlivet 16yr Nadurra Beefier, more savory: Jura 10yr Dalmore 12yr A bit of everything: Oban 14yr TobinHatesYou fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Jan 8, 2012 |
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Jan 8, 2012 05:42
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Citizen Insane posted:The A'bunadh is a personal favourite of mine, very very peppery with a sweet, honeylike finish. Tried a shot of the Lagavulin 16 and it was okay, but I didn't like the tail end of it at all. YMMV, of course. I'm a fellow Laphroaig fan, for the record.
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Jan 10, 2012 01:05
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biglads posted:I have.
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Jan 14, 2012 22:22
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With Redbreast 12yr, I found that leaving a half full bottle for several months to a year caused the whiskey to deteriorate badly. Drink it fast.
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Jan 18, 2012 21:07
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wormil posted:I've only had Four Roses Single Barrel once but it was fantastic. That was at a bourbon tasting with Jim Rutledge so in all likely hood it was a cherry picked bottle. Rutledge goes as far as saying Single Barrel and Small Batch taste nothing alike and none of the four reciper in Small Batch are the Single Barrel recipe. I can agree with that...I vastly preferred Single Barrel.
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Feb 1, 2012 09:48
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Zeno-25 posted:Does anyone know what the story is on what happened to the Van Winkle company? I used to be able to get their 15yr and 10yr (107 proof) bourbon anytime I wanted from the nicer liquor store chain around here, now they haven't been able to get any of their products in decent quantity for the better part of a year and the prices for their stuff online have gone through the roof. Also the Van Winkles don't own a distillery anymore. They take their recipe to Buffalo Trace to distill in smaller quantities...then you have to figure in the fact that fewer barrels make the cut at 15, 20 and 23 years. Stuff that doesn't make the cut is probably sold to smaller boutiques and blenders. NightConqueror posted:For the price, it's pretty great. Flavor is definitely a step up from Maker's Mark, and is on almost on par with Buffalo Trace (plus the bar by me sells it for $4.00 a glass). TobinHatesYou fucked around with this message at 10:20 on Feb 3, 2012 |
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Feb 3, 2012 10:13
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wormil posted:Beginner recs up in the OP. From left field: Old Pulteney 12 might be a little less interesting than Oban 14 as West Highlands go, but at $35 from a place like BevMo, I think it warrants a recommendation.
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Feb 4, 2012 09:49
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spankmeister posted:For that money I think Glenlivet has the edge. I'm also pretty sure I've seen single malts from 'secret distilleries' like Ileach and Finlaggan for less...as well as some other independents. TobinHatesYou fucked around with this message at 13:13 on Feb 5, 2012 |
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Feb 5, 2012 13:11
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pork never goes bad posted:The things you are saying about it are bad things, though. It barely tastes like a scotch, let alone a single malt, definitely doesn't have 12 years of barrel character no matter how long it actually spent in barrel. It's lack of whisky character may make it more accessible for a non whisky drinker, but why not just pour that person a bourbon and coke, or gin and tonic, or just vodka?
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Feb 6, 2012 01:57
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pork never goes bad posted:Sorry - I didn't mean to imply that those were things you said. I still think that they are true statements about the Scotch. Speyburn is loving rank. It is absolutely the $5 Vodka handle of single malts. The experts don't seem to hate it either...at least Martine Nouet, Broom and the late Michael Jackson. I'd personally describe Speyburn as the following: Young/clean, light and syrupy (honey), slightly heathery but not perfumy.
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Feb 6, 2012 07:29
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smn posted:I've got to comment on this - I've gone through one bottle of Speyburn 10 and it was very decent. Long time a go so I can't remember all the details but it most definitely wasn't a bad whisky. Somewhat sweet, malty and easy to drink - the bottle didn't last long.
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Feb 9, 2012 13:25
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natsea posted:I'm in the exact opposite boat. On my 21st I purchased a bottle of Quarter Cask and then a few months later I purchased Glenlivet 12. Looking back I really wish I had purchased another bottle of Quarter Cask. Any recommendations for my next purchase, or should I just go with Quarter Cask again? I personally quite enjoy Caol Ila DE as well, it's my favorite of all the ACE'd Distillers Editions.
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Feb 20, 2012 05:27
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biglads posted:I'd agree with spankmeister. There seemed to be a silly little game being played by Bruichladdich and Ardbeg recently where they'd run some of their newmake or whisky through a gas chromatograph and announce "The Peatiest Whisky Ever" with x+1 ppm of phenols. I felt this way without actually trying it, totally thinking the 167PPM would be gimmicky and overpowering. Well I tried it tonight and was pleasantly surprised. For a young whisky, it's extremely smooth...the wave of peat comes, it warms over your mouth slowly from top to bottom. It lingers for quite some time. Octomore's only faults are its barrel time and price...it really hasn't picked up enough additional complexity from the wood to compete with the peat. It was definitely my favorite peated offering from the Bruichladdich table, beating out the Port Charlotte bottlings.
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Apr 1, 2012 09:07
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I think when you literally make several dozen different expressions, some are bound to be misses. I don't think that's so much inconsistency rather than inevitability. Don't most new distilleries start off making gins, rums, and other white spirits because its a way to make a profit short term while their brown spirits age? Anyway the edition of Octomore I had was apparently the latest (4.1) and the most refined.
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Apr 4, 2012 01:09
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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.
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Apr 6, 2012 21:01
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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.
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Apr 7, 2012 00:06
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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.
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Apr 7, 2012 03:23
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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.
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Apr 9, 2012 01:35
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Ample posted:Some people just like the taste of Pepsi.
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Apr 11, 2012 19:16
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Hmm, I wasn't implying that someone should mix Pappy 15-20-23yr with soft drinks. I was just wondering how many people wouldn't be able to distinguish a $15 screw-cap bourbon from one that gets the community into a frenzy every year. Bottles of Pappy 15yr end up being chucked on eBay for >$200 Like this example from a K&L Not quite the same...it's a handpicked cask strength single-barrel Four Roses vs Pappy 15yr. I'm surprised that so many people got it wrong. If you're a whisky freak, you should probably at least be able to identify the distinctive rye flavor in one and none in the other... Speaking of which, the Pappy frenzy is *tonight* for me. Wondering if I should go for the 15yr ($70) or 20yr ($110). EDIT: Looks like they had 7 bottles of 15yr, 4 of 20yr, 7 of 23yr split between three stores...and I sucked at pressing F5 so better luck next time! TobinHatesYou fucked around with this message at 06:21 on Apr 12, 2012 |
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Apr 12, 2012 01:25
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wormil posted:Beyond a certain point, price is no longer about taste but about scarcity and uniqueness.
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Apr 13, 2012 23:02
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