Scotch Q&A

[lightning9191]

Originally Posted by kayaker

Not really a question, but what a tasting I just had.

First was a special (at least different) bottling of Glen Ord, that was given to Andrew (the host) by his mother, for his 30th B-Day. She used to work at the distillery and he pretty much grew up there.

Then we had some Glenturret from an independent bottler. 13 yo I belive.

Then came the Glenfiddich 18 and 21, and the Glen Garioch 15 and 21.

Next we had Bruichladdich 14 (regular) and Bruichy 14 (aged in French Oak that contained Italian wine).

Finally we finished up with two IBs of Bunnahabain, 15 yrs and 31 yrs.

The store had to close before we got to the 2 Highland Parks (15 yr and an 16 yr IB).

In any case, a good time was had by all and it's taken me an hour to write this post because I am a little drunk.

Did I mention the Innis & Gunn and the pint I chugged after the tasting?

Glad I don't have to work in the AM.

Wow that is quite the line up! How ya feeling today?

Originally Posted by lightning9191

Wow that is quite the line up! How ya feeling today?

A little slow today, but not bad considering.

Breakfast and a good cuppa joe will help.

The Balvenie 12yo Double Wood
Cragganmore 12yo

I can speak to these and I think both are a solid bodied, full flavor drink the
Double wood is the mellower. I'm all about the mellow.

My dad likes scotch, but sticks to what he calls the smoother stuff.

Dalwhinnie, Glenchinkie and Scapa are what he favours. You might also want to try Glen Ord.

I tried some Macallan 12 yesterday, it has a nice not over powering smokey flavor and I also got quite a bit of dark cherry flavor as well. Nothing great, but I might add a bottle to my rotation if I think about it when shopping.

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by Darrell

I tried some Macallan 12 yesterday, it has a nice not over powering smokey flavor and I also got quite a bit of dark cherry flavor as well. Nothing great, but I might add a bottle to my rotation if I think about it when shopping.

I am really a big fan of the Macallan 12. I think it has some very good flavors. I can see where you are coming from with the dark cherry flavor. I normally associate it with citrus, but I can see that. If you like the Macallan, I'd also recommend you try Balvenie Doublewood 12 yr. At least to my relatively uneducated palate, I find it to taste similarly to the Macallan and it is a few bucks cheaper.

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by Darrell

I tried some Macallan 12 yesterday, it has a nice not over powering smokey flavor and I also got quite a bit of dark cherry flavor as well. Nothing great, but I might add a bottle to my rotation if I think about it when shopping.

Which Macallan 12yr? They have a sherry and oak cast variety.

[BigCat]

My post referred to the sherry. I've never had the oak.

Originally Posted by wayner123

Which Macallan 12yr? They have a sherry and oak cast variety.

Oak cask.

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by Darrell

Oak cask.

Yeah the sherry cask does not seem to have hardly any smokey taste to it. That's why I asked. I have yet to try the Oak cask, but it's on the list.

On another note to the above poster, Jura is consistantly winning awards for young scotches. They have a 5 year that blows a lot of 20+ yr scotches away.

[Savvy]

I love my Jura 10. I need to hunt down some Superstition to see how that is in comparison.

I like Dalwhinnie, Lagavulin 16, Glenrothes, Macallan 12...

Do you think I'd like Balvenie 12?

Hey Mean D.

I'm not overly familiar with the Glenrothes, but if you like the Macallan 12, I think you will enjoy the Balvienie 12. Certainly not identical but I thought they had some similarities in taste profile.

Originally Posted by kayaker

Hey Mean D.

I'm not overly familiar with the Glenrothes, but if you like the Macallan 12, I think you will enjoy the Balvienie 12. Certainly not identical but I thought they had some similarities in taste profile.

Thanks Ian, you have not steered me wrong yet.

[e-man67]

The wife surprised me this morning for our 12 year anny with a bottle of Grey Goose vodka (my favorite) and a bottle of Sheep Dip. It is a a blend of 14 dif scotches...having a glass now...very nice...however a little overpowering over the Hoyo churchill I am smoking...I should have had a Tat.

I just picked a bottle of the Doublewood Balvenie 12 yr. I will try some tonight.

Balvenie 17yr Sherry Cask
Talisker 175th Anniversary
Laphroaig Malt 86 10yr

Gary Vaynerchuk does a review on these sms. He's a wine guy but I thought the video was interesting.

http://tv.winelibrary.com/2008/07/25...e-episode-509/

[pmwz]

i dont have a lot of whisky experience. I have tried an Irish Single Malt cooley 4yrs, a 7 year old Highland Scotch (dont know which) , Springbank 10 + 15. Didnt enjoy the highland as much as the other stuff.
i think about getting a couple of 5cl samples or going to a tasting at a cadenhead's store that is almost right across my street.
can you give me a recommendation for each region (in the sub 50$ range)

Originally Posted by pmwz

i dont have a lot of whisky experience. I have tried an Irish Single Malt cooley 4yrs, a 7 year old Highland Scotch (dont know which) , Springbank 10 + 15. Didnt enjoy the highland as much as the other stuff.
i think about getting a couple of 5cl samples or going to a tasting at a cadenhead's store that is almost right across my street.
can you give me a recommendation for each region (in the sub 50$ range)

Going to a tasting would be a great option to try some different whiskies and learn about Scotch in general.

There is a line of single malts called McClellands named for the 4 main regions (Islay, Highland, Speyside, Lowland). Each is a young sample from a distillery in each region. I can't remember what distilleries were used. I think you can even get sampler sized bottles.

I haven't had these, so I don't know what they taste like.

My choices would be Bowmore for Islay, Auchentoshan for Lowland, Highland Park for Highland (though it may test your price limit), and maybe Glenlivet for Speyside. That would be a nice tasting. There maybe nice Speysiders that would fit your budget, but I mostly prefer Islay malts.

Hope this helps and happy dramming.

[cricky101]

I picked up my first ever bottle of scotch last night - Highland Park 12. I tried a bit last night with a splash of water.

For someone not used to drinking strong alcohol, it definitely will take some getting used to. I could immediately pick out a lot of the flavors described in the thread, though.

I shall soldier on with another glass right now