Too bad, the 18 is grossly overpriced. If you really want to get into Scotch find a bar that has a lot of single malts, see if you can get them to give you a tasting. Start first by region, the Highlands are different from the Islay's, same for the Speysides. Start with two out of each region, the milder the better, settle on the region that best fits your tastes, then try a few older versions. The longer in the cask, the more it picks up the flavors of the cask, which is why the are so many opinions on the FO series, the 18 will have been aged in a American Oak cask that has been treated with a small amount of Sherry, a Spanish Oak Cask treated with Sherry and another American Oak Cask treated with Bourbon. It is a very unique taste. You might even give a couple of blends a try, the Famous Grouse is very well priced and is mostly made up of the Macallan and Highland Park. I happen to like Highland Park, which is a Highland. The Macallan is a Speyside. Highland Park is peatier than the Macallan, but less than the Islay's. Peat adds a very strong taste that some people do not like.
Go to scotch tastings a lot. Had the presenter describe peat as such, one of three options: 1. Smoke 2. Heather (herby, earthy, kind of) 3. Sea salt It all get mixed together, but different areas will clearly have different peat flavors. I think the heather is more highland, smoke more lowland, and sea salt more island distilleries. I purchased an Ardberg 10 year last week. Has a lot of that smoke on it. Tastsgoodman.
Did 2 tastings in Scotland as well as going to a distillery. I can hold my liquor quite well but 5 glasses of scotch in a hour in the afternoon got me pretty good. Did one on my dad's birthday with him and he was out cold for the whole afternoon. Used to be into Johnnie as much as single malts but I'm all single malt now. I've been schooled.
Laphroaig is strange to me. Got a bottle of 10 a year or so back, loved it and had that and 18 2-3 more times and good every time. Had it in Scotland 2-3 times and was coarse and foul, only Scotch I didn't like there. I'm pretty confused now by it, will probably give it 1 more try. Not many people there like it.
ive never had it or really much of anything besides johnnie walker so far, hoping its good and worth the cost
Laphroaig is an Islay, they are very peaty Scotches. Get a tasting first, there is a world of difference between Johnie Walker which are blended scotches and a Islay single malt. JW Double Black is about as close to an Islay as you will get, and even that is not close. Historically single malts are more of a recent phenomenon, mainly as Gunners found out, because they are very uneven year to year. Most highly purchased scotches are blends, JW uses upwards to 40 different malted and sometimes grain whiskies. The largest selling scotch in Scotland is The Famous Grouse, which is a blend, not a single malt.
picked up a bottle of Oban 14 today also grabbed this sorry 'bout the pic quality, smoke and all Glenmorangie The Nectar D'or 12 yr should go nice with dinner
Having a hurricane cocktail... http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2009/08/ardbeg-corryvreckan-exclusive-tasting-notes/
NYGator hope all is well in your neck of the woods Looked like a pretty crazy storm followed by a pretty crazy storm Settling in with an old hat of mine tonite, The Glenlivet 12
You can argue all you want about which single malt is the best (and I won't disagree). Glenlivet 12 is always a great choice and the 'older' Glenlivets are even better.
Going to get my dad a nice bottle of Scotch (among other things) for x-mas. I know little about Scotch specifically as I'm a bourbon drinker primarily. Give me recommendations please. Looking for the smoothest/mellowest (word?) option out there. I suppose $100 or under for the bottle as if he likes it and wants to buy it again...he doesn't freak when he sees how much I paid for it.
Oban 14 imo Have never heard a scotch drinker give it an unfavorable review You can get it for anywhere from $60-$89, depends on where you purchase
One of the best tasting I've ever had. It's not mellow though...if you don't like burning tongue stay away.
my go to seems to be glenfiddich 15, reasonably priced and very good. lagavulin was good as well but that price means its something i only drink on special occasions
Bought a Glenlivet 18 the other day. Can't bring myself to open it. I've had Glenlivet 12, Glenfiddich 12 and 18, but not this yet.
So Christmas Eve I blew my friends away. I had the following 10 bottles of scotch out in my bar for my friends to drink... Macallan 18 Lagavulin Distillers Edition Dalwhinnie 15 Balvenie 21 Balvenie Peated Cask 17 Glenmorangie 18 Bunnahabhain 18 Ardberg Corryvreckan Caol Ila 18 MacCutcheon 60 (ok, maybe not)
Same, I'd much rather get almost anything else. Although I'm not a Highlands guy so I may be biased. Islay all day.
Lately i've been drinking johnny walker black label i'm more of a beer man than a liquor drinker, but i may have settled on a favorite. until recently I didn't fully appreciate the difference between black label and red label.
yeah i mean i recognize that the johnny walker brand is like the budweiser of scotch... but i feel i've been 're-introduced' to it after trying a wider variety of scotches. one thing is for sure , a bad single malt tastes like dogshit compared to a decent blended. The other blended I really liked was Famous Grouse.
it is the most commonly known brand of scotch, isn't it ? i thought everyone had heard of johnny walker.
well in most alcohols usually it's the obscure and rare brands that are considered the best, that require a developed palate to appreciate, which the connoisseurs fawn over. you wouldn't think that the most common brand would make one of the best whiskeys.
JW Black, Gold, Platinum and Blue are all thought very highly of. Single malt is certainly a different taste but pretending to be too good for blended scotch (not saying you) is like pretending to be too good for a Bordeaux wine. Its silly and each are offered in varying degrees of quality.