Scotch!!

jsaliga · « **Reply #460 on:** 26 Jul 2013, 01:11 am »

Your price limit of $100 or less brings a number of single malts into play that I hadn't considered. So I would add a number of cask strength malts such as:

Glenlivet Nadurra 16 Year Old (bottled at cask strength and matured in first fill bourbon casks)
Aberlour A'Bunadh (this is a vatting of whiskies matured in ex sherry casks and bottled at cask strength)
Macallan Cask Strength (another sherry bomb bottled at cask strength)
Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength (an annual release bottled at cask strength)
Lagavulin 12 Year Old (a limited edition release from Diageo, matured in ex bourbon casks)
Glenfarclas 105 (another sherry bomb bottled at cask strength)

I tend to favor single malts bottled at cask strength over those that are diluted to less than 50% ABV. The flavor is more intense at higher strength, and you can always add water to a whisky to reduce alcohol burn if that turns out to be a problem for you. Of those above, I would highly recommend Glenlivet Nadurra. You can usually find it for about $65 and it's a real cracker of a whisky.

Laphroaig and Lagavulin are very smoky and phenolic, since the barley is dried in a kiln fired by peat. I happen to like peaty whisky but it isn't for everyone.

Have fun!

--Jerome

sts9fan · « **Reply #461 on:** 26 Jul 2013, 11:49 pm »

I grabbed a bottle of Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength. Whaoh! I was not prepared for the intense flavor! Working into it. Not sure it's a beginners bottle! So far so good.

jsaliga · « **Reply #462 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 12:25 am »

I did say that Laphroaig and Lagavulin were smoky and phenolic due to the peat.

You seem to be getting on well with it. You can always add a few drops of water to tone it down. After a time you get used to it. I seldom add water to whisky. Some malts don't take water very well and tend to fall apart, but Laphroaig can take a little water so don't be bashful about adding a little if it is too much for you neat. I believe that Batch 4 was bottled at about 57% ABV so adding a teaspoon of water to a dram will bring it down to about 50% ABV or so.

I should have mentioned that the cask strength whiskies I suggested above aren't usually considered good choices for beginners unless they plan to add water to bring the strength down.

--Jerome

sts9fan · « **Reply #463 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 12:38 am »

Being a whiskey rookie I can only do neat once my palet is "conditioned" as my boss says.
I drank ~1oz with lots of ice. Very slow sipping. Was very good and quite a palate destroyer.
Gotta try something less smokey. So they smoke the grain? I know nothing about how scotch is made.

jsaliga · « **Reply #464 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 01:29 am »

Here's a couple of youtube videos about Laphroaig and how they make their whisky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Xo900woaU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVJztcYA-CY

If you prefer your whisky with ice then by all means, enjoy. But one thing to be aware of is that ice closes the aroma of the whisky down and makes it harder to smell. Nosing a whisky is a large part of the experience if you really want to appreciate it.

If you would like a single malt that is not smoky then any of the entry level malts I recommended would qualify. My personal favorite among the budget malts is Old Pulteney 12 Year Old. It is bottled at 43% ABV and isn't peated. It is vatted mostly from ex-bourbon casks so it has a fair amount of vanilla in the flavor profile, with a very mild touch of sea air -- the distillery is located in Wick, Scotland which is on the coast of the North Sea.

--Jerome

MaxCast · « **Reply #465 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 01:46 am »

sts9fan, you may want to try this one. It was my first and I find it quite smooth at 40% abv.

Mikeinsacramento · « **Reply #466 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 02:15 am »

Quote from: sts9fan on 26 Jul 2013, 11:49 pm

I grabbed a bottle of Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength. Whaoh! I was not prepared for the intense flavor! Working into it. Not sure it's a beginners bottle! So far so good.

I despise Laphroaig 10 CS. Can't get past the band aid taste.

Freo-1 · « **Reply #467 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 02:19 am »

Quote from: sts9fan on 27 Jul 2013, 12:38 am

Being a whiskey rookie I can only do neat once my palet is "conditioned" as my boss says.
I drank ~1oz with lots of ice. Very slow sipping. Was very good and quite a palate destroyer.
Gotta try something less smokey. So they smoke the grain? I know nothing about how scotch is made.

I may catch some flak here, but I happen to like Johnny Walker Green (their only single malt), and Gold. I rather enjoy Gold. You may like the flavors of those a bit better than the peat (smoky) types. I like those as well, but they are an acquired taste.

jsaliga · « **Reply #468 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 02:21 am »

Nothing wrong with Johnny Walker Green, though it isn't a single malt...rather, it is a malt blend (or what used to be referred to as a vatted malt).

--Jerome

Freo-1 · « **Reply #469 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 02:34 am »

You are right, I stand corrected. The Wiki also states that the Green and Gold have both been discontinued. Guess I better stock up!

jsaliga · « **Reply #470 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 03:10 pm »

As a general rule I usually will buy single malt whisky bottled at 43% ABV or higher. Some malts, like Cragganmore 12 Year Old, is fine at 40%. Others, like Dalmore 12 Year Old is a little weak to my taste buds at 40%. I have a couple of single cask Dalmore bottlings from Duncan Taylor and Signatory that are much better IMO. However, everyone is a little bit different in what they are looking for in a whisky. For example, I know someone who will only buy cask strength single malts that are matured exclusively in ex-bourbon casks and are unpeated.

I prefer more intense and concentrated flavors, so I tend to buy cask strength single malts. If a whisky is too strong for my tastes or has too much alcohol burn I can always add water. If the whisky is excessively diluted at the distillery and too weak, well, there is very little you can do about that.

I have a couple of single malts that I feel are too weak at 40% ABV, so I have taken to making my own home blends in order to get more enjoyment from them. For instance, I add about a teaspoon full of Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength to a dram of Dalmore 12 Year Old. It adds a wee touch of smoke to the Dalmore and enhances the flavors. I have also blended Dalmore with a little bit of Aberlour A'Bunadh (as cask strength sherried single malt) or Glenlivet Nadurra and those have worked well for me too. I call these creations "frankendrams"

While some whiskies might not work too well together there is no real harm in trying it. But home blending probably isn't for the beginner. It helps to be familiar with the whiskies you are blending so you have some idea of what the outcome will be, and that experience also helps you to determine the blending ratio. For example, I would not blend too much Laphroaig cask strength with Dalmore 12 Year Old. The Laphroaig can quickly overpower the Dalmore and obscure its character, so what you end up with is something that does justice to neither of the component whiskies.

--Jerome

MaxCast · « **Reply #471 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 07:00 pm »

Quote

I have a couple of single malts that I feel are too weak at 40% ABV, so I have taken to making my own home blends in order to get more enjoyment from them. For instance, I add about a teaspoon full of Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength to a dram of Dalmore 12 Year Old. It adds a wee touch of smoke to the Dalmore and enhances the flavors. I have also blended Dalmore with a little bit of Aberlour A'Bunadh (as cask strength sherried single malt) or Glenlivet Nadurra and those have worked well for me too. I call these creations "frankendrams"

Jerome, thank you for saying this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was going to ask if it is ok to do something like this. I have an Ardbeg 10 that I bought because of the smoke flavor (which I like) but have grown to see that it is a BIT much. Never had Laphroaig, if you have had Ardbeg how would you compare the two ie, is one smokier than the other?

Tyson · « **Reply #472 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 09:33 pm »

Ardbeg is drier and more in your face. Laphroaig is richer and more organic tasting. Both are peat monsters, but in different ways.

sts9fan · « **Reply #473 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 10:33 pm »

The Laphroaig is a bit much for me. Could not drink more then on. Had to switch back to Burbon tonight.
Need to try a less or no smoke scotch next.

Tyson · « **Reply #474 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 10:49 pm »

Highland Park is, IMO, the perfect beginner scotch - it has everything in almost perfect balance. 12 year old, 15, 18, doesn't matter, they are all great.

sts9fan · « **Reply #475 on:** 27 Jul 2013, 10:55 pm »

Great, I have seen that at all my stores. I will grab a bottle.
Thanks!

jsaliga · « **Reply #476 on:** 28 Jul 2013, 01:24 am »

While I agree with Tyson about Highland Park, you should be aware that it is lightly peated and therefore does have a touch of smoke. It's nothing like Laphroaig mind you, and the distillery bottlings come in at 43% ABV so they won't slap you about the face as hard as a cask strength whisky.

--Jerome

Tyson · « **Reply #477 on:** 28 Jul 2013, 01:30 am »

Yes, malty sweetness, oak, honey, and smoke all in perfect balance. Great stuff!

jsaliga · « **Reply #478 on:** 28 Jul 2013, 01:31 am »

Quote from: Tyson on 27 Jul 2013, 09:33 pm

Ardbeg is drier and more in your face. Laphroaig is richer and more organic tasting. Both are peat monsters, but in different ways.

+1

--Jerome

pansixt · « **Reply #479 on:** 28 Jul 2013, 01:58 am »

Quote from: Tyson on 27 Jul 2013, 10:49 pm

Highland Park is, IMO, the perfect beginner scotch - it has everything in almost perfect balance. 12 year old, 15, 18, doesn't matter, they are all great.

Got to try the Highland Park. I do like the smoky flavor some. I did try the Oban you recommended last year Tyson.
Good but not for me.

Still like the Dahlwhinnie though my nephew brought some Glenkinchie 12 back from Edinborough and it was a nice
Lowland flavor.

James