Scotch and Whiskey

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by robwbright

I liked the Machir Bay so much I thought it was worth the $60 and bought a bottle. I consider it 95% as good as Lagavulin 16 for 20% less money. Unfortunately, the only place I've seen it for sale is out of stock.

Haha, the economics are a little different here in Cali where you can get Lagavulin for 65-70 bucks. Right now it's on sale at Costco for 56 bucks. I feel bad spending over 40 on a bottle so I'm getting a Lagavulin as my one "expensive" bottle since it's a proven one.

But I agree, if the prices on all the big name Islays were jacked up I'd probably go for the Machir Bay. It's delicious stuff.

[f0rge]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

Haha, the economics are a little different here in Cali where you can get Lagavulin for 65-70 bucks. Right now it's on sale at Costco for 56 bucks. I feel bad spending over 40 on a bottle so I'm getting a Lagavulin as my one "expensive" bottle since it's a proven one.

So unfair. The Lagavulin 16 is $117.95 locally in Toronto. More than double the price.

If you want anything "decent" you're into it for $70-80. Highland Park 12 is $74, Talisker 10 is $81.

I need to start running whiskey across the border.

[f0rge]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

Highland Park 15 smells very very close to Balvenie Doublewood 12, but in the taste department it is tipped towards the fruity notes and less complex. I don't detect smoke at all, but that might be because I drink too many peated Islays.

How do you think it compares to the HP12? That's one of my go to "every day scotches". People always tell me to treat myself to the 18 one day but I've never considered the 15.

I have the Doublewood 12 and it's decent, good to have on hand but it's not something I'd buy repeatedly.

I recently tried the Balvenie Carribean Cask and it was quite nice, better than the Doublewood for sure but sweet. You could definitely tell it was aged in rum casks. If that's not your thing stay away.

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by f0rge

How do you think it compares to the HP12? That's one of my go to "every day scotches". People always tell me to treat myself to the 18 one day but I've never considered the 15.

I have the Doublewood 12 and it's decent, good to have on hand but it's not something I'd buy repeatedly.

I recently tried the Balvenie Carribean Cask and it was quite nice, better than the Doublewood for sure but sweet. You could definitely tell it was aged in rum casks. If that's not your thing stay away.

Haven't had HP12, never bothered to try because it's such a poor value here. Bartender told me he thinks HP15 is a lot better than HP12, problem with the distillery in general is that the prices are too high.

I'm open to rum casks though, I can see that adding a nice touch.

[Talus1]

I'm another Islay fan. My favourite is Lagavulin's 18 yr old Distiller's Edition, but it is no longer available. My next favourite is Caol Isla, then Bruichladdich.

I've had the opportunity to go there twice. The first time I only had a day on the island and unfortunately it was a Saturday and all the distilleries were closed, except Bowmore which is the most "commercial". I took their tour and tasted a few of their malts. I'm not a big fan, but their 18 was pretty good. I spent the rest of the day driving around and looking at the other six distilleries. Caol Isla is really beautiful. Ardbeg, Laphroag and Lagavulin are all along the same little road long the south shore. I managed to sneak onto the Lagavulin property to look around and take a few holiday pics. When I tried the same at Laphroag, I got caught by a maintenance crew. They were pretty cool about it though, and even gave me a sample bottle.

The second trip, with my wife this time, was much more successful. We stayed a few days at a B&B in a beautiful old stone house. The owner was an accomplished cook and the food was amazing. I even tried haggis at breakfast. Once you get past the list of ingredients it's basically a really tasty type of sausage. We toured Bunnahabhain in the morning. Their malt is very light for an Islay, I guess because the distillery is the furthest north on the island and well protected from the sea winds. My wife is a fan. It was kind of surreal, though. They have about 7 employees but make a whiskey you can buy around the world. They even took us into the barrel room, where the whiskey is aged. It isn't normally part of the tour because, for tax reasons, the whiskey is technically owned by the UK Government until they sell it. The guy whose job it is to turn the barrels everyday so the wood stays wet and sealed is the happiest guy I've ever met. The alcohol fumes in that place were something else. Then we got invited to try a dram... At 10am.

We spent the rest of the day touring Ardbeg and Lagavulin, after a quick trip on the ferry over to Jura.

We really like island malts. My wife is a fan of Talisker from the Isle of Skye and Highland Park and Scapa from the Orkneys. We toured Skye, which was stormy but hauntingly beautiful. Next time we'll hit the Orkneys.

One of my absolute favourite non-Islays is 21 year old port wood aged Balvenie. Smoooooth. So, we went to Dufftown to see the distillery. It is owned by Glenfiddich, which I don't particularly like but which is one of the biggest and most commercial of them all. They had student tour guides from all over Europe, with tours in just about every language. Quite the contrast to Bunnahabhain. Balvenie is on the same site but not part of the tour. In the end we got the Manager to give us a private tour., which was nice.

The pub in Dufftown was running a "nosing" that night. The manager of Cragganmore gave a presentation about the six United Distillers whiskeys (Lagavulin, Cragganmore, Oban, Talisker, Dalwhinnie, and Glenkinchie) and why they each taste the way they do (source of the water, how the germinated malt is dried, the shape of the still, etc). It was fascinating. After reviewing each distillery, we got to try a sample. Afterward, they just started cracking open bottles. There were more bottles than people in the room, so we ended up pretty hammered.

All in all, a good couple of trips. Scotland is amazing. I highly recommend it.

[asdf]

Originally Posted by Talus1

I'm another Islay fan. My favourite is Lagavulin's 18 yr old Distiller's Edition, but it is no longer available. My next favourite is Caol Isla, then Bruichladdich.

I've had the opportunity to go there twice. The first time I only had a day on the island and unfortunately it was a Saturday and all the distilleries were closed, except Bowmore which is the most "commercial". I took their tour and tasted a few of their malts. I'm not a big fan, but their 18 was pretty good. I spent the rest of the day driving around and looking at the other six distilleries. Caol Isla is really beautiful. Ardbeg, Laphroag and Lagavulin are all along the same little road long the south shore. I managed to sneak onto the Lagavulin property to look around and take a few holiday pics. When I tried the same at Laphroag, I got caught by a maintenance crew. They were pretty cool about it though, and even gave me a sample bottle.

The second trip, with my wife this time, was much more successful. We stayed a few days at a B&B in a beautiful old stone house. The owner was an accomplished cook and the food was amazing. I even tried haggis at breakfast. Once you get past the list of ingredients it's basically a really tasty type of sausage. We toured Bunnahabhain in the morning. Their malt is very light for an Islay, I guess because the distillery is the furthest north on the island and well protected from the sea winds. My wife is a fan. It was kind of surreal, though. They have about 7 employees but make a whiskey you can buy around the world. They even took us into the barrel room, where the whiskey is aged. It isn't normally part of the tour because, for tax reasons, the whiskey is technically owned by the UK Government until they sell it. The guy whose job it is to turn the barrels everyday so the wood stays wet and sealed is the happiest guy I've ever met. The alcohol fumes in that place were something else. Then we got invited to try a dram... At 10am.

We spent the rest of the day touring Ardbeg and Lagavulin, after a quick trip on the ferry over to Jura.

We really like island malts. My wife is a fan of Talisker from the Isle of Skye and Highland Park and Scapa from the Orkneys. We toured Skye, which was stormy but hauntingly beautiful. Next time we'll hit the Orkneys.

One of my absolute favourite non-Islays is 21 year old port wood aged Balvenie. Smoooooth. So, we went to Dufftown to see the distillery. It is owned by Glenfiddich, which I don't particularly like but which is one of the biggest and most commercial of them all. They had student tour guides from all over Europe, with tours in just about every language. Quite the contrast to Bunnahabhain. Balvenie is on the same site but not part of the tour. In the end we got the Manager to give us a private tour., which was nice.

The pub in Dufftown was running a "nosing" that night. The manager of Cragganmore gave a presentation about the six United Distillers whiskeys (Lagavulin, Cragganmore, Oban, Talisker, Dalwhinnie, and Glenkinchie) and why they each taste the way they do (source of the water, how the germinated malt is dried, the shape of the still, etc). It was fascinating. After reviewing each distillery, we got to try a sample. Afterward, they just started cracking open bottles. There were more bottles than people in the room, so we ended up pretty hammered.

All in all, a good couple of trips. Scotland is amazing. I highly recommend it.

that sounds incredible... really would love to make a trip out there!

[Talus1]

The first trip was business in Edinburgh, thus just the one day on Islay. The second trip was a belated honeymoon. We drove all over the place, including the south because I wanted to visit Jim Clark's birthplace. Next time we'll just do the Highlands and the Orkneys.

[serialk11r]

Update [large number]: This is turning into a sort of journal for myself lol...
Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or got a little sip, it was good but not super impressed, it is pretty smooth, I guess some people really value that. Makes me want to get a bottle of Glenmorangie 10 though, if that one is similar then it would be an excellent value scotch.

Longrow Peated (10 yr I believe): Wow! This one is excellent! Lots of peat but no acrid nitrosamine/sulfur, very complex and lots of flavor. I can see why it's sold out at online outlets.

Balvenie Carribean Cask (14): Good, but I'll take Doublewood over this for value reasons.

Also snagged that $55 bottle of Lagavulin from Costco, yay. They had a Glenlivet "tasting kit" with 200mL of 12, 15 French Oak, and 18 for 40 bucks. 200mL of 18 + 200mL of French oak is probably worth 40 bucks...was tempted to get it.

[litemup]

Originally Posted by vertex

any suggestions on decently priced single malts?

My first taste of 12-year Macallan had me hooked. Never looked back.

...except to try the 18 once. Meh... overrated, IMHO.

[litemup]

I'm such a dork. Got so excited someone was talking about scotch I forgot to read to the end of the thread.

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by litemup

I'm such a dork. Got so excited someone was talking about scotch I forgot to read to the end of the thread.

It's okay, I get super excited when people talk about this stuff too lol. Is Macallan really that good? I always heard it was overrated, so I never bothered to try.

[litemup]

One of my wife's former colleagues owns a liquor store. We were in one day many years ago. I was standing over the selection when he walked by, reached up, and handed me the box.

I looked at the box, looked over the selection of exotic single-malts, looked at him and said "Really?" He just gave me that "Yeah, really." nod.

I find it to be by far the best balance of all the right stuff.

Now I'm really curious to hear your feedback.

BTW, do you use a vacuum cork for your unused portions?

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by litemup

BTW, do you use a vacuum cork for your unused portions?

Nope, I don't bother with decanting into smaller bottles either, but I don't really have a big collection (it's 2 bottles right now lol, finished 2 already).

[litemup]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

Nope, I don't bother with decanting into smaller bottles either

Ooo, that would work better! I'm such an amateur.

It's just that it takes me so long to finish a bottle the whole bottom half gets all sharp. I guess I need some drinkin' buddies. :-D