4/9/2010 12:10:10 PM

4/9/2010 1:00:49 PM

picked up some:



Haven't had it before. Cask Strength.

It's delicious.

4/11/2010 4:13:54 PM

ttt for someone

2/20/2011 7:52:15 PM

Sean Connery

2/20/2011 7:54:12 PM

I like scotch, but I'm not a scotch snob.

I can tell the difference between a good scotch and some Dewars White Label.

2/20/2011 8:23:04 PM

The McCallan 15 year Fine Oak

2/20/2011 8:45:47 PM

^ I just opened a bottle of Macallan 15 the other night. It's deeelicious

2/20/2011 8:58:50 PM

Ardmore. Good stuff

2/20/2011 9:09:30 PM

Got two bottles of Tomintoul 27 year glenlevit. It's okay. Think the Macallan 10 year is better. Went to a Macallan tasting a few weeks ago and got to try some 12, 15, and 17 year.

2/20/2011 9:17:24 PM

2/21/2011 8:51:17 AM

went to a pretty swanky place for dinner on saturday, and a rep for chivas sat at the bar next to me while we were waiting on our table... and was giving out chivas 18 year olds. when he first sat down i was kinda eavesdropping his conversation with the bartender, showing baby photos and the like, then said "let's give away some chivas... close the tab when it gets to $3k though" first thought was wtf is this guy flirting or celebrating his baby with giving away a ton of drinks to people he doesnt know? turned out he was a rep.

sweet promo though. even the gf who's not a scotch drinker liked it on the rocks.

2/21/2011 9:14:12 AM

^^^^ Got a bottle of Ardmore at christmas..

It's definitely on the peaty side

2/21/2011 10:23:26 AM

I often feel like I should start drinking scotch...but every time I've picked up some or gotten it out at the bar I was not impressed. Perhaps I'm not mature enough for it yet.

I'll drink the hell out of some good whiskey/bourbon straight though

2/21/2011 10:46:55 AM

I've tried a good variety of bourbon and whisk(e)y, but for whatever reason I've never had occasion to drink scotch. I'll have to do something about that.

2/21/2011 11:18:29 AM

My friend always says bourbon and whiskey is for people who want to like Scotch but haven't developed their tastes far enough yet.

2/21/2011 11:37:00 AM

So, basically, your friend is an elitist tool?

2/22/2011 1:00:07 PM

your buddy needs to stop drinking garbage bourbon. If the taste of Bourbon was so inferior to Scotch, then Scotch distilleries wouldn't be buying used bourbon barrels to age their liquor.

I've never noticed much of a difference in higher end scotch, so I hate buying anything more expensive than Johnny Walker Black.

2/22/2011 1:32:23 PM

Quote :

"your buddy needs to stop drinking garbage bourbon. If the taste of Bourbon was so inferior to Scotch, then Scotch distilleries wouldn't be buying used bourbon barrels to age their liquor."

Sure some lower end Scotch distilleries such as Dalmore or Highland Park might import Bourbon barrels but this is by far the norm in higher end Scotches. The only reason distilleries started importing bourbon casks from the US was because of the difficulty finding Spanish sheery casks in the early 1900's. So they settled for sub-par American made oak casks.

It's pretty much accepted that European made sherry oak casks add more flavor and create a fuller bodied Whiskey than their American counter part.

I think it's anywhere from 5 to 15 times more expensive to use a sherry Spanish barrel than an American ex-bourbon barrel. Hence why so many distilleries use them.

I've had plenty of Bourbon and I still prefer Scotch. It's just a much more complex, satisfying taste. Bourbon is typically too sweet for me.

Quote :

"I've never noticed much of a difference in higher end scotch, so I hate buying anything more expensive than Johnny Walker Black."

Johnny Walker Black 12 year is a cheaper Scotch and in my opinion not very good. There's plenty of better Scotches. If you can't tell a difference in higher end Scotches you just don't have a taste for it. A lot of people can't tell the difference in more expensive wines either. That doesn't mean there isn't one.

I'm not saying you shouldn't like Bourbon. I'm just saying it's too sweet for me and most people I know only resort to it if they don't have the cash for Scotch. It's just not as good.

2/22/2011 2:01:30 PM

I'd believe you if the number of bourbon casks being exported supported your claims. Unfortunately, they don't.

2/22/2011 2:05:22 PM

^I don't understand. You're backing up my point. They do support my claim. Yes Americans export a lot of Bourbon barrels but do you know the reason why? American law dictates you HAVE TO use new barrels to make Bourbon. You can't reuse them. So they sell them for cheap.

Now if you look at the higher end Scotches they spend more and get the quality sherry casks from Spain or elsewhere.

Sure some interesting malts come out of Bourbon barrels but the fact is they're only using them because they're a cheap alternative to nicer sherry casks.

I've had my fair share of Bourbons and I do enjoy some of them but if Johnny Walker Black Label is all you have to compare I would say stick to Bourbon.

2/22/2011 2:12:57 PM

I know it isn't scotch, but what would a 40 year old bottle of canadian club be worth?

2/22/2011 2:15:20 PM

as i understand it, the time of aging in the bottle is inconsequential to the "worth"

it's the time aging in the barrels that matter for scotch.

hence, a 15 year old scotch you bought 6 years ago, doesn't turn into a 21 year old scotch. it's still a 15 year old scotch.

[Edited on February 22, 2011 at 2:28 PM. Reason : or any liquor for that matter]

2/22/2011 2:27:21 PM

Thats always how it works, and why the age is often printed on the bottle

2/22/2011 2:34:16 PM

i was contrasting liquor vs cellaring beer or wine.

2/22/2011 2:36:21 PM

Which is why you never hear someone rave about a 1995 Glenlivet

2/22/2011 2:39:24 PM

sometimes though

with some aged liquors ive purchased, the barrel and year information are included, i guess under the pretense you could possibly try and get some more of the same batch or something

2/22/2011 2:40:59 PM

this thread has me drooling at my desk

yum!

2/22/2011 2:41:48 PM

also the older the barrels the more expensive the Scotch:

http://www.nickollsandperks.co.uk/details.asp?prodid=711915NVBND&cat=111

World's most expensive:

http://most-expensive.net/scotch

[Edited on February 22, 2011 at 2:54 PM. Reason : s]

2/22/2011 2:49:45 PM

I have recently become addicted to scotch. Stuff is good in everything. Straight, on the rocks, coke, sprite, sierra mist, even iced tea.

Grabbed a taste of Johnny gold label. Definitely have had my eye on macallan. Sounds delish.

2/22/2011 3:27:40 PM

Yeah, once it is bottled it doesn't get any better.

2/22/2011 3:32:47 PM

i hate whiskey in general. I guess i am not baller for scotch whiskey.

[Edited on February 22, 2011 at 3:36 PM. Reason : ..]

2/22/2011 3:35:26 PM

Oh look, another topic eleusis is an expert in.

2/22/2011 3:40:54 PM

never once claimed to be an expert about Scotch, but there are some elitist fucks in here claiming some really ignorant shit.

2/22/2011 3:56:21 PM

2/22/2011 6:55:44 PM

Quote :

"as i understand it, the time of aging in the bottle is inconsequential to the "worth" it's the time aging in the barrels that matter for scotch. hence, a 15 year old scotch you bought 6 years ago, doesn't turn into a 21 year old scotch. it's still a 15 year old scotch."

There's a scotch reviewer that did a piece on a shit bottle of JW Red given to him by his coworker and the same brand and label which was akin to finding your grandfather's bottle he hid away in the attic in 1960. Former wasn't even worth a 100 base score and the latter was like 89/100. I think it had to do with the fact that JW is blended?

@eleusis, Talisker is one of single malts contained in JWB so if you ever find the chance to try it, I'm 90% sure you'd immediately tell a difference.

--
FWIW, I tried to get this bumped to ask about Laphroaig's pricepoint instead of making the actual thread. Cheers for the bttt regardless.

[Edited on February 22, 2011 at 7:35 PM. Reason : .]

2/22/2011 7:34:10 PM

My favorite is Laphroaig, with Lagavulin and Talisker close seconds.

As for barrels... Scotch is never put into a new barrel, it is always aged in a refill. Primary aging is mostly done in barrels that have been re-used for scotch for years. Not much flavor of anything comes out of them, though the scotch does mature and improve. Many scotch whiskies are "finished" in a "fresh" barrel, such as sherry, or bourbon, or a variety of other things.

Too much time in a fresh cask can be detrimental to a good scotch. I have a single-barrel 31 yr old that I purchased because it was distilled the month I was born. It spent way too many years in a fresh sherry cask. It is not bad, but it is not wonderful in the way you would hope a 31yr would be. It has an overpowering sherry nose that doesn't open up with water as much as it hits you with the left hook, too. Interesting, but not excellent.

2/23/2011 1:01:26 AM

So, I'm pretty much new to drinking Scotch, and I want to purchase a relatively "beginner's Scotch" I suppose.

Anyone have some recommendations?

2/23/2011 1:20:36 AM

^^^I'd be willing to bet that had more to do with the ingredients/process changing over the last 50 years or just differences in the particular batch than it did with aging.

But thats just a guess.

[Edited on February 23, 2011 at 3:02 AM. Reason : ]

2/23/2011 3:01:15 AM

Okay, tax refund = I'm gonna try and find a decent scotch. Anybody have a recommendation for something between $30 and $50 that they have locally?

3/11/2011 2:02:13 PM

PLEASE I HAVE A MATCH TONITE

3/11/2011 7:06:27 PM

Laphroaig.

3/12/2011 12:05:35 AM

bump

8/21/2011 4:15:14 AM

Working on a bottle of Glenmorangie 10 year right now. It's not bad for the price.

8/21/2011 8:16:56 AM

The kind that gets me "NASCAR drunk".

8/21/2011 10:37:11 AM

8/21/2011 10:44:10 AM

It's about time I make it back to Scotland. Been more than a year.

8/21/2011 4:29:39 PM

I requested the bump so I could talk about Scotland.

I was in Edinburgh for two weeks and in that time I learned so much more about Scotch than I ever thought I knew, thanks largely in part to Dr. Barnhardt, NCSU's walking knowledge-base on Scotch.

I brought back a bottle of my favorite at his recommendation and because it's apparently hard to get in the U.S., Lagavulin 16 Pedro Ximenez. Since I've been home I've also purchased some Laphroaig 10 because it's just my favorite every-day whisky.

So yeah, I'm a big peat fan.

8/21/2011 8:02:44 PM

Edinburgh is fun. Did you go into the highlands? Isle of Skye?

8/21/2011 8:20:51 PM

We spent three days at Ft. Williams, most of which was on a chartered van (just our group) riding around the Isle of Skye, going to the Talisker distillery, photo sites, Portree, et cetera.

I loved Isle of Skye, but Ft. Williams was pretty boring--I mean it's basically just that one main street and then that's it. Stayed at the Ben Nevis Hotel.

Edinburgh was still my favorite part of the trip, and maybe my most loved city. I'm applying to University of Edinburgh for grad school, even though I can't afford it, just so I can pretend like I might live there. Just an amazing city, and great scotch. Cadenheads? Oh god yes.

This was an NCSU Study Abroad group, a bunch of fiction writers, for the record.

8/22/2011 3:01:22 PM