High Roads & Low: The CHUD Scotch Thread - Page 2

21 years old? Bah! What you need is a 50 year old scotch...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/30/top_tipple/

Mind you it will cost you £10,000 a bottle.

Well, I did say it's cheap scotch. Did you grab the Highland or the Islay?

I had the Islay... and I knew I was doomed the moment I pulled the cork, and caught a whiff of what smelled like the Jersey Shore at low tide.

Actually, "Too Much Peat In Mouth" is a misnomer. I felt buried in it... but I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.

Never having tasted an Islay whiskey before, leads me to the question...

Are all Islay distilled whiskies so chock full of peaty goodness?

All the Islay ones I've tasted, which is all of two. There are some recommendations for good Islays earlier in the thread. I'm going to have to try one of those. As for the McClellands, give the Highland a try. Once again, it's cheap, but I think it's the best cheap single malt out there.

So I just got a Lagavulin 16 years old. Awesome stuff. And the peat ain't overwhelming, but it's really there.

Next time I buy a bottle at the duty-free, it shall be a Macallan 18 years old. Is it as great or better than the 10-12 years old, Judas?

I couldn't say, Martin; it's been too long since I've had any Macallan's but the 12. I DO know that I'm finally picking up a bottle of the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban today, so I can't wait to give those two scotches a proper Pepsi Challenge over the course of the weekend.

Lagavulin is pretty much the only 'peaty' scotch that I can tolerate.

Well, since it's officially 1PM... I have decided to sample my newest purchase. Actually, it's more of a gift. While hitting the state store(Pennsylvanian for liquor store.), my fiancee bought me a bottle of the Macallan Cask Strength so I would be distracted from the fact she blew $336.59 at Nordstroms.

Suffice to say, the ruse worked.

As I sample this, I detect notes of sherry and orange peel in the nose. Thankfully, there is virtually no peat.

The color is dark, almost like very strong tea.

The flavor is amazing! I taste currants and a hint of chocolate.

The finish is very warm, and it lingers for at least half a minute on the tongue.

This is extremely potent! 58.5% abv... not for the weak of heart!

Gentlemen... buy this. Right Goddamned now! $48.95 here, but the national average price I'm seeing online says $50-$60.

It's worth it! Go! Now!

Duly noted, Lima. I'll give it a try.

BTW, almost all Islays have peat in them due to using peat as part of the drying process. It's why I prefer Speysides.

Lima: I've HAD that Macallan Cask Strength before (probably 4 years ago) and I remember it being VERY, VERY good.

Yeah. This one is on my list to get. Heard a lot of great things about it.

And the only Islay I really like is the one I just got, the Lagavulin 16 years.

Gentlemen, it may be the alcohol in my system, but I'm fairly confident that the next time any of you visit LA, you will thank me for pointing out this place:
http://thedailypint.net/
Just check out the scotch list!

The place I bartend at has a tremendous amount of single malts, I absolutely love scotch, I've tried Laphroaig, Talisker, Dalwhinnie 15, Mcallan 12,18,25, Balvenie 15,21(portwood), Glenmorangie 12,25, Glennfiddich, JW Blue,Gold,Green(Blue is a blend though) , Compass Box(Hedonism), Oban 14, Singleton 12, and Springbank

Of all those the Hedonism is my favorite followed by Dalwhinnie, the Balvenie 15 is single barrel and I find more smooth than the 21 yr portwood

We have something much better.

The Whisky Café. And it's also a cigar lounge.

It's a piece of heaven.

My favorite is another local spot, L'ile Noire.

Bought a bottle of the McClellands Highland yesterday to foist off onto some people we are having over after a fundraiser tonight.

I opened it. I sampled it... then went back and bought 3 more bottles.

Wydren? My hat goes off to you and I shall doubt you no more, sir! Not only economical, but an amazing flavor for such a young whiskey.

No doubt that this will be the 'go-to' whiskey in my liquor cabinet from now on. And while I love my Macallans and Auchentoshans, the bank account tends to take a weekly beating when I buy them.

Exactly. There are better scotches out there, but most of those are expensive enough to be saved for a special occasion or paired with a special cigar. The McClellands Highland is a great scotch for everyday occasions, like when you want to make a bad movie tolerable, or a terrible movie even better.

Based upon the recommendations of several fellow CHUD scotch enthusiasts, I finally bought a bottle of the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban this evening.

Wow. Like...WOW. That hint of port flavor that's in there is truly stunning. I'm setting this bottle next to my bottle of Macallan 12.

Glad you like it! Some purists don't like the Glenmorangie way's of using different wood essence for their whisky, but I love it. My next purchase will either be the Macallan 12, the Macallan Cask Strength, or the Balvenie Double Wood, probably the scotch who has the best value for it's price.

Now why, pray... would we do that?

It's all a matter of taste. I personally find Islay whiskies to be an abomination before God, but they have their fans here.

So save the tomatoes for some bisque of some sort, ok?

This and the cigar thread pretty much complete me.

Just wanted to say it.

Ran out of Macallan Cask Strength while watching Dexter, so I broke out a bottle of The Famous Grouse. It's pretty much the only blend I'll drink... and it goes remarkably well with the Macanudo Robust I won 10 of, on a football bet yesterday...

Go Raiders!!!

I need to try more scotches...while JW Black and Glenfiddich are okay staples (at least it's not goddamn Dewars or J&B), horizons need to be broadened here. Good thread, people.

I brought a full bottle of Quinta Ruban over to a get-together with my siblings a week ago. They had never tried it before, but they absolutely pounded it; even my sister, who doesn't really care for scotch, really enjoyed it. At least for now, QR is our single malt of choice.

Glad that you tried it again, Iggy.

Glad everyone is enjoying the Quinta Ruban!

I bought a Balvenie Double Wood. Holy crap! Best bang for the buck you can find.

Next on my list: Macallan 12.

On the recommendation of the Scotch guy at the local Spec's, I went with The Glenrothes Select Reserve.

It's kinda nutty, notes of...I think fig. Not peaty at all (yay). I'm really liking it as a slightly cheaper, slightly less sweet alternative to the Macallan 12.

I actually had to decide between the Balvanie Double Wood and The Glenrothes -- almost went with the Balvanie b/c they finish the aging process in sherry casks, like the Macallan, and I'm a big fan.

All in all, though...The Glenrothes is a fantastic single malt and I'm enjoying it.

I'll pair it with one of my Romeo y Julieta Habana Reserves next and we'll see how that goes.

The Macallan is a necessity for any well-stocked liquor cabinet. You will not be disappointed... but as exceptional as the 12 year old is, I'll always be more partial to the Cask Strength.

Lima!!!

Oh, and I second what he says on the overall necessity of having a bottle of Macallan 12. I'll need to try the cask strength again one of these days...I don't recall how it tasted compared to the 12.

There's no real difference... there are strong hints of currants and chocolate when you hold off swallowing for a second or two, but the finish seems to be a bit smoother than the regular 12 year old... at least to my palate.

Also... 58.5% ABV!

I'm very keen on that!

Go on...

My semi-review of a few months back...

The guy at the local Spec's didn't seem too keen on Macallan Cask.

He mentioned that, since it's still chill filtered unlike other cask strengths, it loses some of the complexity of the flavor while retaining all of the burn of a cask.

Any feedback on that?

You have a different definition of 'cheap' than I do, my friend

I've never had a bad Balvenie (LOVE the Doublewood 12), so I have no doubt at all in my mind that the Portwood 21 is probably a fantastic scotch. I'd love to try it sometime, but there's no way that I could justify that kind of expense to my wife. For the price point, I'll stick with the Quinta Ruban (which I can generally buy for $45-50).

After all the mentions here of the McCallan 12 I got my dad a bottle of it for Christmas (he's more the scotch drinker than I) and enjoyed a glass with him. Very nice drop, and a good way to get him to expand his scotch horizons beyond the various Johnnie Walkers he always drinks. All thanks to this thread!

Hold on...you PAY for porn?

ETA - Also, the Springbank 10 Year 100 Proof. Try it, gents. Fuckin' brilliant.

I've got a couple bottles of really nice scotch, all single malt of course!
Here's what I've got on the shelf currently:

The Balvenie Single Barrel (Cask # 2772, bottle #65/350) (15 y.o)
Aberlour Double Cask Matured (16 y.o)
Glenfarclas 'Beltramo's Sherry Cask' 1990 (15 y.o) (Cask #5094, bottle #600) (Specially selected for Beltramos)
Highland Park Bicentenary Vintage 1977 Reserve (21 y.o) (#09078)
Highland Park 'Beltramo's Sherry Cask #2498' 1986 (19 y.o) (specially selected for Beltramos)
Glenfiddich 18 y.o (Batch #3102)
Glenfiddich 12 y.o
Glenfiddich 15 y.o
Glenfiddich 12 y.o
Crown Royal Reserve (the only blended that I have)

My regular drinkers are the Glenfiddich 12 & 15 y.o, the Aberlour 16 y.o, and the Crown Royal Reserve. The Aberlour is by far my favorite though. If you havent tasted the Aberlour 16 you're really missing out. It's amazingly smooth and so delicious it makes you just want to eat it. Haha. The Highland Park Bicentenary is my "Celebration Scotch". It only comes out when there's a special occasion worthy of an almost 300 dollar bottle of Scotch. And its worth every penny of that ~300 dollars. Its my favorite of all my scotch's, but I cant drink it on a regular basis because of how expensive it was, obviously. The Glenfarclas and Highland Park that were specially selected for Beltramos are also special occasion drinks, but they come out a little bit more often.

The really nice stuff I ordered from this place in california called Beltramos, because they deliver to NC...technically against the law to ship alcohol across NC borders. Haha. Oh, and on another note, if you dont already own it and are a lover of single malts, Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch is an absolute required own. The most recent edition is from 2004, but it will open your eyes to many single malts you might not taste otherwise, thats what happened with me.

Most Glenfiddich bottles I tried tasted like gastric acid.

Have you tried the 18 y.o? It doesnt taste like the 12 or 15 in my opinion. The 12 and 15 are just okay to me, by no means my favorite, not even close. From all of the single malts that I own (and that are usually pretty easy to find), my recommendation would be the Aberlour 16 y.o. I've converted many people over to the single malt side with just a taste of that stuff. You can usually find it at any liquor store for about 60-70 dollars, so its priced pretty nicely for the quality you get from the bottle. The Aberlour 16 y.o. was the first scotch I ever tasted, it brought me over to be a lover of single malts. It'll probably always be my go-to scotch. Here are the tasting notes from Michael Jackson's book:

Colour: Bronze Red
Nose: Seville oranges, lemons. Turkish delight. Rose-water
Body: Gently rounded
Palate: Smooth. Spun sugar. Caramel. Tightly combined flavours. The extra years have made a big difference.
Finish: Cinnamon. Ground nutmeg. Nutty
SCORE: 84/100
And the notes from the distillery:

Colour: Rich Golden Amber
Nose: Rich, dry scented floral and sweet raisin aromas with spicy nuttiness
Taste: Smooth, full, sweet floral and spicy flavours with a soft plum fruitiness and gentle oakiness.
Finish: Long, warm spicy fruitiness.

I don't really tend to try older malts after being dissapointed by 3 or 4 of their bottlings. I'd rather go with a 18 y.o Macallan if I hve to put money on it.

I think once you go older than 18 years old, they become a taste that grows on you, but not always. I find that 12s are sometimes a bit too simple, but a 15-18 is just about right.

Glad someone finally mentioned Highland Park - great drop. Scapa is an interesting one too - very floral on the nose. Nice warm weather whisky.

Also, Balvenie Islay Cask 17 yr is pretty special if you can find it. Not too peaty, but just a hint.

I thought the Classic Malts Distillers Editions were an interesting experiment. Any thoughts?

I've been enjoying the Macallan 18 year bottle I picked up recently, it's pure Awesome Sauce.

I believe I saw a bottle of the 30 year at the bar recently, I'm steeling myself (wallet) to try a glass soon.

Alright folks, you've got me!

I've been meaning to try to get into single malt scotches. I'm a pretty raw rookie here.

My idea of whiskey has been cheap blends (bourbon as I live near Kentucky) mixed with cola, or some Maker's Mark or Jameson at my high end (sad, huh?).

So anyway, I grabbed some of The Glenlivet 12 after reading some quick reviews on my phone while at the store. as they had a small cheapish bottle, and I wasn't sure what to get.

I COMPLETELY forgot about this thread until just now. It looks like The Glenlivet is not highly regarded here, ah well!

Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone for the recommendations, I now have a short list for myself, and will likely be starting with the cheapest and most easily available in my area, but here is my list in no particular order:

Single Malts:
Cragganmore
The Macallan (12 or cask strength)
Balvenie (double wood)
Glenmorangie (10 and Quinta Ruban)
McClellands (Highland)

Blends:
Johnny Walker Green

Currently my lame cabinet holds:
Evan Williams
Jameson
The Glenlivet 12


I have much to learn.

Also, a question... how does everyone prefer to drink it? Is it always better neat (which means straight up at room temp, correct?)? I've seen recommendations for a "splash of water" or with various types of ice by people here and there, but I assume the water could interfere with the flavor if you weren't careful.

Anyway, is neat basically always preferred? Is water preferred in some cases (if the water is high enough quality)? Does it depend on the scotch?

I'm also open to bourbon selections as I live very close to Kentucky, and might have easier access to some of those.


Again, thanks for the thread and the advice so far! If my cheap entry works out well, I might be asking for something a bit pricer for Christmas!