Now here's a thread I can toast!
I like Blue Label and Jack Daniels. They are my favorite whiskey/bourbon combo.
I like Blue Label and Jack Daniels. They are my favorite whiskey/bourbon combo.
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Favorite Whisky
- Thread starter scotty96LSC
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You mix them? I'm wondering how noticeable the Jack Daniels licorice flavor is to you? I did not care for that flavor.
No I don't mix them sorry!
I meant to say I like drinking them, but not in the same shot glass!
Macallan 18 year though I usually drink the 12. More affordable
I just started drinking scotch a couple months ago and found I like it very much. I'm pretty fond of the Glenmorangie. I want to try their Signet and Highland Park. I heard Highland Park 18 is really well liked.
Has anyone had Glenmorangie Signet?
Yes, I have, and it is excellent, worth the investment.
Yes. It is a very good scotch heavy on the taste. One of the few I prefer over ice. (personal taste).
Before you invest in a bottle, try your local establishment that carries it.
I always enjoy a nice glass of Jameson as an affordable standby. Alternatively Johnny Black is good or Red if I'm cheap. I have a bottle of JW blue label laying around from my 21st birthday.
I'm not a big drinker. I hate beer so I mostly drink liquor or wine if I do.
Autoimmune pancreatitis however has quickly put a stop to drinking for the time being. I'm not looking for a flare up right now... Its the worst abdominal pain you fathom and inescapable nausea. Add a nurse interrogating you for an hour to see if you're an alcoholic (when you drink maybe 2x a month) and it creates a very uncomfortable situation.
I'm not a big drinker. I hate beer so I mostly drink liquor or wine if I do.
Autoimmune pancreatitis however has quickly put a stop to drinking for the time being. I'm not looking for a flare up right now... Its the worst abdominal pain you fathom and inescapable nausea. Add a nurse interrogating you for an hour to see if you're an alcoholic (when you drink maybe 2x a month) and it creates a very uncomfortable situation.
"Right now, I have a bit of a thing for Dickel Rye. It's spicy, but sweet and has some great citrus notes. My old standby, however, is always Lagavulin, neat. In the fall and winter, the big toothy smoke and briny quality of it remind me of hanging by the fireplace, watching the snow fall. Definitely a seasonal spirit."
I still have a few bottles unopened from Christmas that i've yet to try - Isle of Jura an Turas Mara (travel exclusive here in the UK) and Laphroaig an Cuan Mor (another travel exclusive) off to see some friends in a few weeks who are big whisky fans so will take them there to try.
Did anyone try Jura Brooklyn? It's an immense whisky I would highly recommend it!
Did anyone try Jura Brooklyn? It's an immense whisky I would highly recommend it!
Well, I am of the view that life is too short to drink anything that is not first rate.
There is little point in assaulting your palate with alcoholic horror stories.
And this applies especially to whisky and cognac - the cheap stuff is usually a deranged distaff cousin of some form of rot-gut or paint stripper. Candidly, once you try the good stuff, there is no going back.
For port, whisky, and cognac, I will rarely touch anything that is not at least 10 years old. Preferably twelve, 14, or twenty.
There is little point in assaulting your palate with alcoholic horror stories.
And this applies especially to whisky and cognac - the cheap stuff is usually a deranged distaff cousin of some form of rot-gut or paint stripper. Candidly, once you try the good stuff, there is no going back.
For port, whisky, and cognac, I will rarely touch anything that is not at least 10 years old. Preferably twelve, 14, or twenty.
I've just had a few drams of a Balvenie 12 YO Single Barrel First Fill tonight was thinking there should be a whisky thread on here!
This one looks a little underused given the number of great whiskies, but this is certainly one of them. If you like whisky, treat yourself to a bottle, you won't be disappointed in any way.
This one looks a little underused given the number of great whiskies, but this is certainly one of them. If you like whisky, treat yourself to a bottle, you won't be disappointed in any way.
I'm the same. Hard alcohols aren't easy to find a cheap but great deal in like wine. I'll often buy a smaller bottle of a new alcohol of at least 10 years and try it. Then commit to a larger bottle. Quality stores will or can find you a smaller bottle.
I tend to stray from quite a few American whiskeys or bourbons because of a strong vanilla taste, borderline on artificial.
Well, I'm from Europe, so, for whisky (or whiskey), I tend to seek out stuff form either Scotland or Ireland.
American whiskies aren't even on my radar, I'm afraid, and nobody I know would dream of touching them.
Aficionados tell me that Japan has made huge progress in distilling some seriously good whiskies but I have yet to come across them.
There is excellent stuff in America, but it's expensive. The range of quality drink ranged from 45 to 190 pounds. Often single barrel aged. And the very best starts at several hundred pounds to thousands. The reason you won't find it in much of western Europe is that the market isn't that strong. The buyers of the product often come from different countries, often outselling native purchases. If you're ever keen on trying, there is a single barrel derived bourbon that sells in the UK under the name of Blanton's. It's got a lovely horse sculpture top. It's readily available and popular.
I have a bottle of Hibiki 12 given as a gift many years ago. Properly stored. Never opened. The idea of Japanese whiskey is funny to me, similar to how American whiskies are to the majority of Europeans who've never tried it. And those that do, and I don't mean garbage like Jack Daniel's, often find themselves enamored.
As you've traveled extensively in your life, you've likely sampled rums. I used to think they were all awful and sweet until there was a rum explosion in the US about a decade back and more choices came along. High aged, dry rums, reminiscent of a good single malt from the Speyside region.
That is a great post, and thank you for it.
When I was a student, the only American whiskies we ever came across were horrors such as Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, and the drink that Hunter S Thompson was said to be enamoured of, Wild Turkey. They were awful.
Growing up in countries where excellent - and sometimes outstanding - whisky (and whiskey) from Scotland and Ireland are readily available does tend to spoil your palate.
I had never even known that there was decent whisky from the US; I must google Blanton's.
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Oh lord, those are awful. I do have a large bottle of Buffalo Trace, a very high alcohol bourbon, but use that to make dessert sauces. You'll want to look up whiskey forums that cater to Europe and find retailers through that or walk into independent shops and ask.
American whiskey in general is very... right or wrong. Once past a set price point, the quality and offerings improve. I don't drink it often, but when I do, I like to enjoy it over a course of a couple hours. I leave a little residual in my snifter and come back to it the next day. Often times, there will be a heavenly sweet scent similar to a good armagnac, cognac, brandy, whatever.
People often don't try new things based on past experiences. As an example, if you came to California, you'll find a solid dislike of Chiantis. In the 80s and 90s, Chianti of quality was unheard of, and associated with cheap wine in straw. Even now, in 2016, bottles not bearing the Classico stamp, won't get much attention.
In America, we have Washington, Napa and Virginia for fine wines. There are more non major areas as well. There's a small movement of making French chardonnay, meaning little oak and buttery profile and more crisp and acidic. You've read my ranting on disliking chardonnay before. There's a lot of wineries, and due to imports, a lot of choice for us in terms of wine. I'm not sure if American wines are exported to Europe. I'd imagine some are. I never paid attention to wine aisles or stores when traveling.
This thread just popped up on my radar. Nice to talk about something other than Apple.
My fav whiskeys are, in no particular order:
Lagavulin 16
Highland Park 18
Midleton
Strathisla 12
Jameson Reserve 18
Ardbeg Uigeadail
Lagavulin has for some reason become excessively expensive here in British Columbia.
Would love to get some from a duty-free store in Europe.
Anyone visiting the Vancouver area from Europe, PM me
My fav whiskeys are, in no particular order:
Lagavulin 16
Highland Park 18
Midleton
Strathisla 12
Jameson Reserve 18
Ardbeg Uigeadail
Lagavulin has for some reason become excessively expensive here in British Columbia.
Would love to get some from a duty-free store in Europe.
Anyone visiting the Vancouver area from Europe, PM me
Solid choice. I was introduced to it in 2006 and appreciate it since then. I've seen a $15-20 price increase over the years as more have discovered it.
I lost my whiskey virginity with a Lagavulin 16 in 1991. It's kinda like the first girl you've ever kissed.
Used to be $42/bottle at ZRH duty-free back then. Where I live now, it's north of $130 after all the taxes.
Also, I gather it's still 43% ABV over there, and Canadians get it watered down to the legal minimum of 40% ABV.
Would love to get my hands on the 12yr Cask Strength version, but alas, no one imports it here. tmk
I myself hadn't heard of it before until a friend introduced it to me when I brought up wanting to try a new Scotch. It was a delightful experience to try Lagavulin then. The cheapest I see it now is $76-77. The odd $65-60 if it goes on sale.
Yes, agreed, they were awful.
Again, as with the whiskies, US wines were available when I was a student. (Paul Masson, Blossom Hill, Glen Ellen). They were uniformly awful.
And the beers were so bad even students wouldn't touch them unless absolutely nothing else was available. In fact, it took this forum to persuade me of the possible merits of American beers, and now, I will happily recommend the stuff made by Founder's to all and sundry.
We used to joke that it came as small surprise that a country that had introduced Prohibition should be so poor when producing alcoholic beverages.
These days, in good quality wine stores, the amount of shelf space dedicated to US wines is minimal. Less than minimal. Other New World countries - for example, New Zealand (some excellent whites), Chile (some outstanding reds), Australia, South Africa - all fare far better in terms of customer recognition (and respect), known quality, and decent pricing.
And, that is not counting the Old World (France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria) where wine has been produced - ranging from table wine to sometimes exceptional wine - for thousands of years.
Now, I was shown some Napa reserves this week, which I was informed are excellent. However, their price puts them alongside something akin to Amarone.
Yeah, welcome to the US. You frequently have to pay out the, err, nose, especially abroad, to find good quality wines. Actually, even within the US it is very challenging. The vast majority of US wine sold in the most common places one finds wine is generally mediocre (or far worse) and shockingly expensive. I rarely drank US wines until I moved to Northern California: suddenly I was able to procure (not without some effort, the market is absolutely flooded, and in true American form dominated by marketing/image) really great bottles at modest prices. But, but, but, it is still hard. As I've mentioned in the past, if a vineyard suddenly 'makes a name for itself' big capital will rush in (if it wasn't there already) and do what it does best...
Re Napa, frankly, as far as there is good wine there (you have to search carefully for it), the city itself has turned into some sort of freakish adult Disney Land. The appellation itself is essentially meaningless. 'Napa' more often indicates a price premium more than any indication of quality.
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Good lord, no wonder you hate the idea of American whiskey. If you're going to drink tank whiskey produced cheaply and on the order of 10,000,000 cases a year....